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LONDON STREET NAMES. 



London Street Names 



THEIR ORIGIN, SIGNIF1CA TION, AND HISTORIC 

VALUE; WITH DIVERS NOTES AND 

OBSERVATIONS 



F. H. HABBEN, B.A. 



" If it be a question of words and names, look ye to it " (Gallio, the 
judicious Deputy of Achaia). — Acts xviii. 15. 



PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1896 



24214 




V 



[All rights reserved.] 






LONDON STREET NAMES, 



PRELIMINARY. 

" The happiness of London," said the oracular 
Dr Johnson, whom we still reverence as "the 
great lexicographer," notwithstanding his inevit- 
able supersession by the lapse of time — " The 
happiness of London is not to be conceived but 
by those who have been in it ! " And again : 
" When a .man is tired of London, he is tired of 
life ; for there is in London all that life can 
afford " ; to which the astute Boswell, ever ready 
to assume the role of an easygoing philosopher, 
adds his own comment as follows : " The truth 
is, that by those who, from sagacity, attention, 
and experience, have learnt the full advantage of 
London, its pre-eminence over every other place, 



2 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

not only for variety of enjoyment, but for com- 
fort, will be felt with, a philosophical exultation." 
With all of which sage observations we cannot 
but agree. To some, London presents itself as 
the centre of legislation, of legal administration, of 
commerce, or finance ; to others, as that of litera- 
ture, science, or the various forms of art, according 
to the special department of human interest for 
which they may happen to have a predilection. 
To all it is a source of happiness and satisfaction. 
I conjecture, however, that, to the majority of my 
readers, as to myself, it is the grand arena in 
which is carried on a daily struggle for " bread 
and cheese" ; and as we journey to and fro and 
in and out in the invigorating pursuit of this 
symbolical commodity — plurimi, not rari, nantes 
in gurgite vasto —we cannot but meditate occa- 
sionally, when we stop to breathe, upon the past 
and present of our illustrious city. The outward 
and visible witnesses of the past are fast disap- 
pearing before an apparently illimitable develop- 
ment and improvement. In one sense it is a 
cause of regret, in another it is a source of con- 
gratulation, to observe how surely, year after 
year, vestiges of Old London are being removed 
to make room for wider streets or nobler build- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 3 

ings ; and the ordinary observer, not being one 
of those who poke and prowl about into every 
nook and corner with an irrepressible antiquarian 
spirit and enthusiasm, comes rapidly to the con- 
clusion that of the past little but its churches 
(which are steadily decreasing in number) and 
its street names (which, are at any time subject 
to change) remains. To the archaeologist and 
student of civil or city history, London affords 
an extremely happy hunting-ground — unequalled 
in richness and fertility ; and the humble ex- 
plorer may learn much even by a consideration 
of the facts and circumstances embodied in the 
good old names of our good old streets — names 
which so far have endured like monuments — 
monumenta cere perenniora — of the eventful 
past. 

It is satisfactory to observe that, in many 
instances, the memory of worthy citizens has 
been perpetuated by the streets which bear their 
names. "We could indeed have wished that this 
conservative energy had been more at work in 
both ancient and modern days, and that so many 
illustrious men were not absent in name from our 
midst. We look round, and seek in vain for the 
street corner commemorating Stow, the funda- 



4 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

mental historian of London, citizen of Thread- 
needle Street and Aldgate ; or Chaucer, the 
father of our poetry, born by the Wall Brook, 
whilom Comptroller of the Petty Customs of the 
Port, and another denizen of Aldgate ; or De 
Foe, born in Fore Street, and a resident in Corn- 
hill, where also the unrecorded Gray first saw 
the light ; or Hogarth, pre-eminently a painter 
of London life and manners ; or many other 
good and gifted men, notably amongst our 
mayors and aldermen, who helped to make Lon- 
don morally, socially, and politically what it is. 
How much might later times, restlessly eager to 
rebuild and reconstruct, have done to supply this 
deficiency, and have not done it ! Some of our 
names of modern application have been most 
arbitrarily and fancifully assigned, with an utter 
disregard of all consideration and consequences, 
and are therefore entirely without meaning, so 
far as historical, topographical, or any other 
reasonable connection is concerned. Such 
names, where they are not over-reduplicated, 
as, from apparent poverty of elective ability, 
they frequently are, may serve as a beacon for 
the prosaic postman or wandering wayfarer, but 
fulfil no higher object, and thus a blessed oppor- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 5 

tunity has been lost. They have been chosen 
on the same lucus a non lucendo principle as 
that which determines some suburban residents 
to affix to their villas titles which have either 
no meaning at all as house names, or no refer- 
ence whatever to any perceptible characteristics, 
moral or physical, of their respective dwellings. 
A species of loyalty, mistaken and confusing, is 
responsible for many of the Kings, Queens, and 
Princes streets, and others of the like vague and 
indefinite kind, entirely innocent of any associa- 
tions with royalty beyond the name, and for the 
George, William, King William, Victoria, Queen 
Victoria, etc., streets, serving to mark eras 
with some uncertainty and much inconvenience. 1 
Others again are simply a record of the vanity of 
obscure individuals, who aspired to be remem- 
bered by posterity through the medium of bricks 

1 Mr Augustus C. Hare, in his " Walks in London," states 
that the number of streets, etc., bearing the name of King is 
95; of Queen, 99; Princes, 78; George, 109; John, 119; 
Charles, 91; James, 87; Thomas, 52; Henry, 47; Alfred, 
54 ; William, 88 ; Elizabeth, 57 ; Church, 151 ; Union, 129 ; 
New, 166 ; York, 127 ; Gloucester, 87 ; Brunswick, 76, etc. 
His numbers must, I am sure, include the widest metro- 
politan and suburban area, and I have not thought it 
necessary to undertake their confirmation by actual 
counting. 



6 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

and mortar, making to themselves a kind of 
tombstone with the posthumous recognition of 
their virtues omitted. To have had, in lieu of 
these, such names as would daily have reminded 
us of illustrious men and useful citizens, would 
have been a distinct gain. It would to some 
extent have honoured those whose names were 
thus perpetuated, and certainly would honour 
the thoroughfares to which their names were 
given. Grub Street (who was Grub, or Grobbe, 
as his infamous name appeared in 1307?) has 
been wisely, if only for euphonious reasons, 
changed to Milton Street, to which is allied 
Butler Street ; but why, as an instance of 
inappropriate change, did Petticoat Lane (the 
English form, I presume, of petit court, the little 
short lane) become Middlesex Street — a county 
name assigned to an unimportant thoroughfare, 
which might have been endowed with a title 
recalling the memory of some great and worthy 
man, and therefore honourable, dignified, and 
justifiable ? 

But to return to our more ancient and time- 
honoured thoroughfares, we find names eloquent 
with local history, speaking of associations and 
allusions which it behoves every Londoner worthy 



LONDON STKEET NAMES. 7 

of the name to know, and the knowledge of which 
must add not only to his enlightenment, but to 
his entertainment, and thereby enhance his in- 
terest in the great city wherein he is privileged 
to dwell or earn his daily bread. With this end 
in view, I have not confined myself to a simple, 
bald statement of the origin of the names, but 
have endeavoured, wherever possible, by some 
sort of natural connection, to cover a larger field 
without straying into absolutely irrelevant 
regions. Where it has appeared that informa- 
tion respecting facts or circumstances round 
about the name immediately under consideration 
would be interesting, I have not hesitated to be 
discursive. Thus London and London Wall 
could not be dismissed with a curt etymological 
sentence and nothing more ; one could not but 
linger about the waters of the once not unsavoury 
Fleet or the more majestic Thames ; the Gates 
open an avenue to antiquarian lore ; the Black 
Friars would not be satisfied unless we spoke of 
their fraternities in general ; and so in the case 
of many others a note or two seemed irresistible, 
and might easily and satisfactorily have been 
multiplied had the limits of this little work 
permitted. 



8 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

We observe that in the settlement of the city 
there was a tendency to centralisation. Man is a 
gregarious animal, as some profound philosopher 
long ago discovered, and men of the same trade 
and profession are specially gregarious — generally 
to their mutual inconvenience. Hence we have 
names indicating the special localities of trades 
and industries, of which several instances appear 
in the body of the work. In addition to these, it 
may be noted that the mercers and haberdashers 
established themselves in the West Cheap ; the 
goldsmiths in Guthrun Lane and Old Change; 
the pepperers and grocers in Soper's Lane, now 
Queen Street, Cheapside ; the drapers in Lom- 
bard Street and Cornhill ; the skinners in St 
Mary Axe ; the fishmongers in Old Fish Street 
and Thames Street ; the ironmongers in Old 
Jewry as well as Ironmonger Lane ; the butchers 
in the East Cheap, in St Nicholas Shambles 
(Newgate Market), and the Stocks Market, where 
now stands the Mansion House ; the shoemakers 
and curriers in Cordwainer Street, and the 
hosiers in Hosier Lane, a continuation thereof, 
both now Bow Lane ; but these have left no 
names behind. In most cases this centralisation 
no longer exists. It has disappeared as our 



LONDON STREET NAMES. V 

borders have widened; and in other respects, 
topographical and locative, the present physical 
and social aspect of the city obscures the appro- 
priateness of names due to the past. This leads 
us to reflect upon the changes and vicissitudes 
experienced by our city, for an account of which 
the reader laudably desirous of knowledge is 
referred to the admirable works thereon by Loftie 
and Besant. He will there find a graphic and 
vivid reproduction of the aspect of London at 
various epochs ; a faithful description of the social 
life and domestic manners of the citizens ; and a 
general history of their progress and development, 
which is in so large a measure the history of the 
progress and development of the nation. 

It will also be observed, as a very interesting 
feature, that not a few names, especially of the 
smaller thoroughfares, are mementoes of the 
signs of old houses and shops, especially taverns, 
which once stood therein. We have to bear in 
mind that the shop signs of London's early days 
played an important part in the identification 
of the citizens' places of business, since the more 
convenient method of numbering houses was not 
instituted — or at any rate used to any extent — 
until late in the eighteenth century, and took some 



10 LOtfDON STREET NAMES. 

time to become universally adopted. They were 
rendered necessary by the undeveloped state of 
education. Signs and symbols alone could be 
read and understood by the majority of the 
people. Some were chosen for their appropriate- 
ness, having reference to the business carried on ; 
some as an attraction. Many were adopted by 
arbitrary will or fancy, usually having no connec- 
tion whatever with the locality of their adoption 
or the individuals who adopted them. Others 
again announced the owner's name in the form 
of a rebus, as a hand and a cock for Hancock ; a 
fountain for Drinkwater ; two cocks for Cox ; a 
cobweb and spider for Cobster ; an ash-tree 
growing out of a cask or tun for Ashton ; or a 
deer and a ring for Dering. Animals, real and 
fictitious, were for the most part monopolised by 
hostelries, which retain them in large preponder- 
ance to this day. Many of these, such as the 
Red, White, or Blue Lion, were family cognis- 
ances of the nobility. The Blue Boar was one 
of the badges of the House of York, the White 
Hart that of Richard II. , and other instances will 
be found in the course of the work. Many still 
serve to name the streets in which they were 
situated, although the origins have long since 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 11 

passed away. They are interesting now as afford- 
ing material for speculation or historic research, 
as evidenced by the excellent works of Larwood 
and others ; but the interest must have been im- 
measurably greater when signs met one on every 
hand, or literally on every shop. They usually 
huug over the thoroughfare, and their weight or 
decay constituted so grave a danger that their 
removal became at last a matter of necessity. The 
streets, courts, and alleys thus named were once 
much more numerous than now, and to confuse 
wayfarers in the greatest possible degree, several 
bore the same name if the sign was at all a popular 
one. Thus, a couple of hundred years ago, we 
find Angels represented by 38 thoroughfares ; 
the Bell by 28 ; Blue Anchor, 15 ; Frying Pan, 
13; Half Moon, 17 (why has the half moon 
always been such a favourite in preference to the 
new or full moon ?) ; Lamb, 12 ; Eed Lyon, 37 ; 
Eose, 28 ; Sugarloaf, 18 ; Swan, 17 ; Three Tuns, 
17 ; Castle, 22 ; Cock, 10 ; Crown, 56 ; Dolphin, 
13 ; Helmet, 8 ; King's Head, 28 ; Maidenhead, 
16 ; Mitre, 8 ; Nag's Head, 10 ; Eose and Crown, 
11 ; Star, 15 ; and White Lion, 16. The ap- 
parent popularity of some of these is difficult to 
understand. 



12 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Our church names could not be altogether 
ignored. The street names dependent upon them 
might have been easily disposed of by a simple 
reference to the church, but it appeared desirable 
to go somewhat further, and investigate the 
origin of the name borne by the church itself, and 
thence extended to the street. To state that 
Abchurch Lane or Creechurch Lane owed its 
title to the adjacent Abchurch or Creechurch, 
would have afforded little satisfaction and no real 
information to the enquiring spirits which, I 
hope, constitute the greater number of my 
readers. Of our church names some are simply 
dedications to the Virgin, to the Apostles, or 
the primitive saints, and need no explanation. 
Others have qualifying and specific additions 
dependent upon local or other circumstances, and 
such do need explanation. Those connected 
with street names are dealt with in their appro- 
priate places, but as a matter of interest a 
complete list has been furnished in Appendix I. 

There is to some extent a philological element 
in these explorations, although perhaps a small 
one, which is by no means uninteresting. For 
instance, under Bull-and-Mouth Street, and other 
names of the kind, are found curiosities of angli- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 13 

cisation. We have illustrations of the "principle 
of least effort," which determines a constant 
tendency towards abbreviation, in Sise Lane as 
the modern form of St Osyth, Bennet for Bene- 
dict, Austin for Augustine, Change for Exchange, 
Sermon for Sheremonier, and others. In the 
word Inn (vide Inns of Court) we have an 
instance of change of meaning and appropriation 
to another sense. From Lombard we trace 
the evolution of lumber, and from a simple 
reed the peaceful ecclesiastical canon in one 
direction, and the death-dealing cannon in 
another ; and the Old Bailey, the Old Jewry, 
the Poultry, Crutched Friars, Bevis Marks, Buck- 
lersbury, Mincing Lane, with others, teach 
us something of linguistic lore. 

It cannot but occasionally occur to the reflec- 
tive mind that some names have originated from 
apparently inadequate circumstances ; and yet 
we cannot but assume that, trifling as the name- 
suggesting characteristic may seem to us now, it 
was then a salient feature, and appeared the most 
eligible upon which to found a name. Again, 
one must admit that in a few instances the 
accepted origin is so apparently conjectural 
as to make a considerable demand upon our 



14 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

credulity. But when one has no better origin to 
suggest, it is of doubtful advantage to sum- 
marily discard an old authority, whose dictum 
has been accepted for so many years, and who, 
after all, may be right. In such cases we can 
only await further light which research may in 
time bestow, and when that further light has 
dawned upon us, as in some instances it has, 
I do not think it should diminish our grati- 
tude to those early pioneers who did their 
best, and so much, with the material at their 
command. 

At a very early stage of the work I discovered 
that, unless I was prepared to compile a volume 
much exceeding the magnitude of that I had 
proposed, it would be necessary to restrict my 
researches within certain limits. For London is 
so indefinite — one may say so illimitable — in 
extent, that there would otherwise be difficulty 
in determining where to cease one's explorations. 
I therefore set myself to accomplish the task as 
thoroughly as possible within what may be 
termed the area of real city life — bounded on the 
east by the neighbourhood of Tower Hill and 
Aldgate ; on the south by the Kiver Thames ; on 
the west by Farringdon Street ; throwing out 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 15 

feelers up and about Fleet Street, the Strand, 
and Holborn ; and on the north by Barbican, 
Finsbury, Bishopsgate, or thereabouts ; with an 
occasional excursion into regions beyond as 
might appear desirable. Within this circuit is 
the real old London, with which we are con- 
cerned, and about which we wander every day of 
our busy lives. I hope that every name of 
interest or importance, or which needs explana- 
tion, has been included ; but it is possible that, 
notwithstanding all one's care, the lector dilec- 
tissimus (to use the affectionate term of our old 
writers) may find some omission which he thinks 
should not be. If so, I pray him to make a 
marginal note, and to remember how difficult it 
is to do all that one desires to do. There are a 
few courts and alleys respecting which I have 
spent much time, and made the most diligent 
enquiry and research without success ; and it is 
astonishing what a vast amount of hunting in all 
sorts of by-ways a simple name may give. 
Possibly some of these had no legitimate god- 
father ; and yet I feel convinced that if one 
could only get at their earliest history, some 
curious origin of their names might be found. It 
is unsatisfactory that the origin of any name, 



16 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

especially if at all an exceptional one, should 
be lost in obscurity. 

I have dealt with the subject by an alphabeti- 
cal arrangement, with cross references where 
needful. It was a matter of consideration 
whether this arrangement or a division into 
various cognate groups, with an appropriate 
introduction to each, would be the more interest- 
ing and useful. Each method has something to 
recommend it, but as my motive was rather to 
assist the observant and thoughtful pedestrian, 
who, coming upon a suggestive name, would like 
to know more about it, or upon a — to him — utterly 
meaningless name, would like to know something 
about it, I was of opinion that an alphabetical 
arrangement, by which a name could be found at 
once, would be the more ready and convenient, 
and I have therefore adopted it. 

The information contained in this modest 
volume has been gathered from many sources. 
It has been found scattered up and down in 
various works (mostly too expensive for the 
general reader) in various forms ; but in none is 
the subject treated as a speciality, or with that 
attention which it undoubtedly deserves. I have 
endeavoured to be careful to acknowledge my 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 17 

indebtedness in the course of the work ; but after 
fundamental Stow, to whom the deepest gratitude 
of Londoners will be for ever due, I would like 
particularly to name the modern Cunningham- 
cwm-Wheatley, Thornbury, Loftie, and Besant, 
as valuable, and indeed indispensable authorities. 

There is one aspect of our London streets 
which, although it has no connection with their 
nomenclature, I cannot refrain from alluding to. 
It is their poetic beauty by night, whether 
illumined by the moon, by the refulgence of 
the electric light, or by the secondary lustre of 
the now humble gas-lamp. Their quietude and 
serenity are so enhanced by contrast with the 
rush and whirl which characterise them during 
the busy day that, as we thread them, gazing at 
the calm exterior of so many majestic buildings, 
the silence undisturbed save by the occasional 
footfall of a faithful city guardian, a kind of 
pleasurable awe, not unmixed with solemnity, 
takes possession of the mind. No streets but 
those of a great city can suggest this feeling of 
profound repose. 

The knowledge and study of the past, brought 
so closely home to us in our daily life, if we 
have but the spirit to observe and meditate, 



18 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

serve to enforce the truth that " The old order 
changeth, yielding place to new." We look 
back through the long vista of many past 
generations ; we recall to mind, through the 
visible tokens around us, the men who, having 
helped to form our city, have long since gone to 
rest; we remember that we, too, having done 
our best as citizens, must in our turn make way 
for others ; whilst the grand old city goes on, 
one may say, for ever. 

In conclusion, I would express a hope that 
these brief notices of our street names and their 
origin may lead some of my readers to desire to 
know more of the making and growth of their 
wonderful inheritance. It is a branch of historic 
enquiry yielding to no other in interest, and 
one which cannot fail to add considerably to the 
pure pleasure of a Londoner's daily life. 



A 



Abchurch Lane derives its name from the 
adjacent St Mary Abchurch, originally Up- 
church, from its position on rising ground. 
It may be observed that St Mary-at-Hill 
was so named from a similar circumstance. 
Its exterior is plain, but its interior well 
repays inspection. The cupola, the altar- 
piece, and the carved oak are calculated to 
excite the admiration of the appreciative 
and well-ordered mind. 
Acorn Street, Bishopsgate, is named from an 
old tavern sign. An acorn was one of the 
badges of the Arundel family ; which, how- 
ever, does not imply that they had any 
connection with this neighbourhood. 
Adams Court, Old Broad Street, probably 
bears the name of a former owner of the 
property. Sir Thomas Adams was Lord 



20 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Mayor in 1645, and may have been the 
man. 

Addle Hill, Carter Lane. — On a token (see 
Tokenhouse YARD^of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, this is called Adlin Hill (O.E. Alike- 
ling, or nobleman). It was probably the 
site of the residence of a Saxon noble. 

Addle Street, Wood Street. — It is a little 
doubtful whether we should assign the 
origin of this name to Adelstan (Athelstan), 
who is believed to have had a palace here ; 
or, as in Addle Hill, to the Saxon nobles 
who, it is known, resided here. In either 
case, it originated in the nobility of the 
residents. In certain ancient records the 
name is written King Adel Street, but this 
does not necessarily prove regal occupation. 

Alderman's Walk, Bishopsgate, is the passage 
on the north side of Bishopsgate Church, 
leading to Dashwood House. I have in 
vain sought a connection with some illus- 
trious alderman, whose dignified office, if 
not the man, it might perpetuate. The 
name appears to have been bestowed as one 
of civic appropriateness, with no special 
personal reference; but the Corporation 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 21 

have bestowed several favours in connection 
with the church and churchyard. 

Aldermanbury is the site of the old Court Hall 
of the aldermen, the first meeting-place of 
the civic fathers, termed by Stow " an old 
little cottage." The Guildhall, he records, 
was built by Thomas Knowles, Grocer, 
mayor in 1400, who, in conjunction with 
his brethren the aldermen, made " a fair 
and goodly house near unto St Lawrence 
Church in the Jewry." The old Court had 
its entrance from the present Aldermanbury, 
and was situated due west, on a spot almost 
contiguous to that of the present Guildhall. 

Aldermanbury Postern. — Here, in the time 
of the London Wall (which see), was a small 
postern, to enable the residents in Alder- 
manbury and thereabouts to pass out beyond 
the wall. 

Aldersgate Street. (See Gates.) 

Aldgate. (See Gates.) 

Allhallows Lane, Upper Thames Street, 
marks the western boundary of Allhallows 
Church, recently removed, of which it re- 
mains — and should be allowed to remain — in 
name a memorial, It is somewhat melan- 



22 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

choly to mark the removal, one by one, of 
so many of our old city churches, which 
stand like hoary monarchs, replete with so 
many associations of the past. Neither 
their comparative desuetude, nor the need 
of their sites for improvements, real or sup- 
posed, quite reconciles one to their dis- 
appearance. We can but sigh Sic transit, 
and pass on. 

Amen Corner.— Like Paternoster Eow (which 
see), this is one of the ecclesiastical names 
of the neighbourhood. There seems to be 
reason in Stow when he notes that the short 
lane is " closed up with a gate into a great 
house, so that it is rightly called Amen 
Lane," connoting a conclusion or full stop. 

Anchor Alley, Upper Thames Street, formerly 
Palmer's Lane. Anchor appears to have 
been capriciously substituted, probably as 
having a river connection, or it may be in 
honour of a tavern sign no longer existing. 
Palmer was probably the owner of the 
property, and has modestly retired into 
obscurity. Now the lane simply gives 
access to a wharf. 

Angel Alley, Court, etc. — Of these we find 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 23 

several still existent. In olden times it 
was a favourite name for courts and alleys, 
there being close upon forty, the majority 
probably from shop or tavern signs. In 
most, at the present day, there is nothing 
angelic beyond the name. In some, indeed, 
the name is antithetical. 

Artillery Street, Lane, Passage, mark the 
ground of the old London Artillery Company 
— temp. Henry VIII. — an extra parochial 
royalty of the Tower of London. Gun 
Street and Fort Street in the same neigh- 
bourhood are cognate names. Here the 
bowyers found a market for their bows, and 
the fletchers (Fr. flechier, an arrow-maker) 
for their "clothyard shafts." It may be 
noted how the word " artillery," once signify- 
ing bows and arrows, as in 1 Sam. xx., has 
transferred its meaning entirely to cannon. 
Of course its original application was to 
an offensive weapon made by art, and 
bows and arrows were the principal offensive 
weapons. 

Arundel Street, Strand. — Here dwelt the 
Howards, the Earls of Arundel, in Arundel 
House. 



24 LONDON STKEET NAMES. 

Austin Friars marks the site of the convent of 
the St Augustines or Friars Eremites (i.e. 
Hermits) of the order of St Augustin. The 
priory was founded in 1243, " spacious and 
magnificent," occupying the area between 
Throgmorton Street, Broad Street, and 
London Wall. The house and gardens 
became the property of the first Marquis 
of Winchester (son of Sir William Paulet, 
Treasurer of Henry VIII. , to whom they 
were granted upon the Dissolution), who has 
left his name in the adjacent Winchester 
House, and Great and Little Winchester 
. Streets. The church was given by Edward 
VI. to the Dutch residents of London, 
and has been by them well preserved and 
worthily used. (Consult Note on Black- 
friars.) 

Ave Maria Lane. — A memento of the rosary, 
breviary, and other ecclesiastical manu- 
facturers and vendors gathering about St 
Paul's Cathedral. (For further particulars 
see Paternoster Eow.) 

Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell. — A reminis- 
cence of the town house and gardens of the 
Earls of Aylesbury. 



B 



Ball Alley, Lombard Street, — From an old 
and common sign. The alley is very nearly 
built out of existence, and would, without 
doubt, be quite so, if the contiguous en- 
croaching property dared to do it. All- 
Hallows Churchyard is the alley's only 
refuge. 

Ball Court, Cornhill, also from an old sign. 
The Court is now devoted to a popular 
restaurant. 

Barbican marks the site of a speculum, or watch- 
tower, built by the Eomans adjacent to the 
northern wall (Low Lat. barbacana, probably 
from Persian bala-Jchaneh, an upper chamber, 
from which " balcony" also is derived). Our 
friend Stow says : "The same being placed 
on a high ground, and also built of some 
good height, was in old time as a watch- 



26 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

tower for the city, from whence a man 
might behold and view the whole city 
towards the south, and also into Kent, 
Sussex, and Surrey, and likewise every other 
way, east, north, or west." 
Barge Yard, Bucklersbury. — Hereby stood, 
according to Stow, " one great house, built 
of stone and timber, called the Old Barge, 
because barges from the Eiver Thames were 
rowed up so far into this brook," i.e. the 
Wall Brook ; and this is by him conjectured 
to have been the manor house of the Buckle, 
or Boukerel family, the founders of Bucklers- 
bury (which see). It has been asserted by 
some that the stream was navigated as high 
as Coleman Street, on the strength of a 
Eoman boat-hook having been found there. 
This evidence is, however, hardly conclusive, 
I think, for a boat-hook does not necessarily 
imply navigation at the spot where it is found. 
Barnard's Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 
Bars of London. — The City Bars were six in 
number, namely, Holborn and Temple on 
the west, Whitechapel on the east, Norton 
Folgate, Smithfield, and Aldersgate on the 
north. They marked the limits of the city 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 27 

liberties after it had been found necessary, in 
consequence of the city's growth, to extend 
them beyond the walls and gates, and tolls 
were levied upon conveyances not belonging 
to the freemen, passing within these bound- 
aries. The Temple Bar's removal is compara- 
tively recent, and its site is still indicated 
by a monument which is an admirable work 
of art, let critics (envious and otherwise) say 
what they will. The sites of the Bars of 
Holborn and Aldersgate (by Fann Street) 
are marked by granite obelisks, those of the 
former being adorned with the city arms, 
and the latter with fountains. 
Bartholomew Close, Smithfield, indicates the 
site of the enclosed precincts of the Priory 
of St Bartholomew Benedictines, a fraternity 
which from such small beginnings acquired 
considerable notoriety. Founded by Eahere, 
a pleasant - witted gentleman, says Stow, 
known as the King's minstrel, about 1102. 
During a serious attack of fever he saw a 
vision of St Bartholomew ; was stricken with 
remorse for his former frivolous life ; and 
the founding of the Priory was the result. 
A comprehensive and interesting history of 



28 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the Priory and the Fair is given by Mr 
Henry Morley in his memorials of the latter. 
The church is one of the most worthy sights 
of London. (See work by Mr A. E. Daniell.) 

Bartholomew Lane, Bank, is a memento of 
the church of St Bartholomew Exchange, 
whose site is now occupied by the Sun Fire 
Office, known as Bartholomew the Little, to 
distinguish it from Bartholomew the Great 
and Bartholomew the Less, both inSmithfleld. 

Basinghall Street marks the site of the 
mansion and grounds of the Basing family. 
Solomon Basing was mayor in 1216, and 
his descendants for several generations occu- 
pied important municipal positions; but 
Stow says that in his time (circa 1600) the 
family was " worn out," presumably by its 
civic labours. The hall afterwards fell into 
the hands of the Bakewell family, who en- 
dowed it with their own name, and sub- 
sequently became a Cloth Exchange. The 
present Bankruptcy Court occupies the site 
of the ancient house. 

Baynard's Castle. — Although no street preserves 
its name, one may well care to know some- 
thing about it, for the wharf not far from its 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 29 

site, now occupied by St Paul's Eailway 
Station, meets our eye and serves to keep the 
castle's memory green. It was the residence 
of many illustrious men, even of royalty ; the 
scene of many important historical events; 
and had altogether an interesting career ; 
for an account of which the reader is referred 
to Stow, who has a succinct summary of its 
good and evil fortunes, or to any of the 
many other works devoted to the history of 
our city. Baynard was a Norman noble, 
who came over with the Conqueror, and 
settled himself in this snug corner. The 
castle, after many vicissitudes, was destroyed 
in the great fire, and was the last city palace 
inhabited as such. 

Beech Street, Barbican. — Stow ascribes the 
name probably to Nicholas de la Beech, 
Lieutenant of the Tower in the time of 
Edward III., but his connection with the 
locality is not discoverable. He may have 
been owner of the property. 

Beer Lane, Great Tower Street, was in 
Stow's time Beare Lane. Great Beare Key 
(Quay) and Little Beare Key occupied the 
site of our Custom House. These and Beare 



30 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Lane owed their names to the fact that King 
Henry IIL's White Bear, a present from 
Norway, was accustomed to be brought 
from the Tower, muzzled and chained, and 
taken to the river at this spot to catch fish, 
in accordance with the royal mandate, which 
imposed the observance of the ceremony 
upon the Sheriffs of London. The Tower 
Menagerie, famous in early times, appears 
to have been a source of much trouble and 
care to the Sheriffs. Hatton, another worthy 
antiquary, states that Bear Key was a great 
market for wheat and other grain, and I am 
therefore inclined to connect the name with 
O.E. JBere, barley or grain, from which we 
have beer, barn (i.e. a grain-house), Bere- 
tun = Barton, and Bere-wic = Berwick, a 
corn village, etc. Key, the original spelling 
of Quay, arose from the idea of a space 
compacted or locked together by beams and 
planks, as it were by keys. The modern 
form is an adaptation of the French quai. 
In Welsh, cae signifies an enclosure or re- 
served place. 
Beehive Passage, Leadenhall Market, is 
indebted for its name to the old Beehive 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 31 

Tavern, now supplanted, for some inscrut- 
able reason, by the Bunch of Grapes. 

Bell Alley, Moorgate Street. — Bell, like 
Angel, was a favourite London name. This 
may be attributable to a former shop or 
tavern sign, but there is no distinct evi- 
dence. 

Bell Yard, Carter Lane. — This hands down 
the sign of a very old notable inn, which 
stood on the site. 

Bell Yard, Gracechurch Street, also owes 
its name to an old tavern sign. The tavern, 
or rather its successor, is extant to this 
day. 

Bell Savage Yard has been the subject of 
much speculation and ingenious conjecture. 
The name had its origin as an inn sign, the 
earliest form of which appears to have been 
a bell on a hoop, and the doubt was, or is, 
what this symbolised. According to Stow, 
the earliest occupant of the inn was 
Arabella Savage, and the painter of the 
sign, obviously a man endowed with 
imagination and poetic faculty, depicted 
the landlady as a bell and a human savage, 
which was more ingenious than complimen- 



32 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

tary ; and why he hung the bell on a hoop 
nobody knows. The old Spectator of the 
Addisonian era proposed to assign the 
origin of the name to La Belle Sauvage, 
the beautiful heroine of a French romance. 
But the simplest and most probable explana- 
tion is that the family of Savage kept the 
inn, and its sign was " The Bell," by Savage. 
Alderman Treloar, in his exceedingly in- 
teresting book, "The History of Ludgate 
Hill," suggests a connection between Bell 
and Bail, or Bailey, not far distant ; but 
there does not appear to be sufficient 
ground to establish any such connection. 

Bennet's Hill derives its name from the 
church of St Benedict, commonly called St 
Bennet Paul's Wharf. The ecclesiastical 
connection of Paul's "Wharf is shown under 
that name. 

Bevis Marks signifies Bury's Limits, and 
indicates the borders of the territory per- 
taining to the town-house of the Abbots of 
Bury St Edmunds. " Bury's " has become 
" Bevis " by the mutation of u into v, and the 
reader will bear in mind that to use u and 
v interchangeably was a custom which sur- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 33 

vived in occasional instances until quite 
recently, and that in old lettering v is used 
almost invariably for u. " Marks " is a word 
full of interest if followed through all its forms 
and significations. For instance, we find it 
with the meaning of bordering or limiting 
in the Scotch and Welsh Marches, separat- 
ing those nationalities from English terri- 
tory ; in Mercia (Myrcna ric) the Saxon 
kingdom bordering on North Wales ; in 
margin and in demarcation. Letters of 
marque permit the holders to harass their 
country's enemy beyond the frontier or 
borderland. So a margrave (mark graf) is 
the lord or keeper of the marches or country 
borders, and the office of a marquis, or our 
Earl of Marches, was to defend the frontier 
against aggressive neighbours. As forests 
served so often as boundaries, we find the 
Scandinavian mork, or forest, in our epithet 
"murky," suggesting the gloom and ob- 
scurity of a wood. For further most interest- 
ing explication of this word, the reader may 
consult Taylor's " Words and Places," to 
which I am indebted for most of the above 
information. 



34 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Bevois Court, Basinghall Street. — A com- 
paratively modern name, probably that of 
an owner of the property. It may be a 
corruption of "Bevoy's," or even "Bel voir," 
as there is no beauty to see. 

Billingsgate. (See Gates.) 

Billiter Street. — One authority asserts that 
here the bell founders plied their vocation, 
whence " bell-yeter," or "bell-hitter," but 
there is no confirmatory record. Stow de- 
rives the name from Belzettar, the builder, 
and, I suppose, owner, and this derivation 
is at present accepted. Strype notes that 
the lane, as it was then called (1720), was 
a very poor and squalid place, although 
Billiter Square contained houses of some 
pretension. 

Birchin Lane, originally Burcham, hands 
down the virtues, if there be any virtue 
in a name, of its builder. Stow says 
Birchover was the builder, but modern 
researches, as well as the name itself, point 
to Burcham as more probable. 

Bird-in-Hand Co cjrt, Cheapside. — Formerly 
Bird-in-Hand Alley. An old sign of the 
past; supplemented by the Queen's Arms, 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 35 

better known, perhaps, as " Simpson's." 
The royal escutcheon proudly guards the 
entrance to the court. 

Bishop's Court, Old Bailey, has reference to 
the neighbouring cathedral and its digni- 
taries. There is nothing suggestive of 
episcopacy now. There is also a Dean's 
Court in the Old Bailey, and the adjacent 
"Warwick Lane was formerly Old Dean 
Street. 

Bishopsgate Street. (See Gates.) 

Blackfriars marks the region of the settlement 
of the Mendicant Friars of this Order upon 
their removal from Holborn, where they 
had been located from 1221 to 1285, to 
accommodate whom, within the city, the wall 
at this point was removed and re-erected 
further west, close to the Fleet. Their 
monastery occupied the spot where now the 
busy Ludgate Hill Station stands — a vast 
leap from quiet seclusion to teeming crowds. 
The Mendicant Orders were founded to 
counteract the disrepute into which the 
ancient monastic fraternities had fallen by 
their accumulation and enjoyment of wealth, 
proving that they were not above or really 



36 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

removed from ordinary human desires, 
passions, and weaknesses. A lucid sum- 
mary of their origin, ratio and modus 
vivendi, their waxing and their waning, 
may be found in Hallam's "Europe in the 
Middle Ages." The most celebrated were 
the Dominicans, or Black Friars, and the 
Franciscans, or Grey ; then the Augustines 
and the Carmelites, or White Friars. After 
them ranked the Priory of Holy Trinity 
at Aldgate ; St Bartholomew's Priory ; St 
John the Baptist's Benedictine Nunnery 
near Houndsditch ; the Knights Templars, 
and the Crutched Friars ; the whole occupy 
ing a considerable area, consequently leaving 
numerous records in street names, under 
which they have received due attention. 
(See also Appendix II.) 
Black Raven Alley, Upper Thames Street, 
owes its name to the sign of an old departed 
hostelry. The Raven was a badge of the 
old Scotch kings, and is supposed to have 
been a kind of Jacobite symbol. In Scan- 
dinavia it was sacred to Odin, and formed 
the national emblem. In many countries it 
was regarded as a bird of ill omen. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 37 

Black Swan Alley, London Wall. — Judging 
from the several courts and alleys which 
once existed bearing this name, the rara 
avis in terra was deemed worthy of much 
honour as a tavern sign, whence the names 
of the thoroughfares originated. 

Black Swan Alley, St Paul's Churchyard. — 
The sign still exists. 

Bleeding Heart Yard. (See Hatton Garden.) 

Blomfield Street, London Wall, commemo- 
rates a London worthy, Charles James 
Blomfield, incumbent of St Botolph, Bishops- 
gate, in 1819, and Bishop of London in 
1828. London churches owe much to his 
energetic enterprise. 

Blue Boar Court, Friday Street.— From an 
old sign. The Boar was a badge of the 
House of York. (See remarks on Signs in 
Preliminary.) 

Bolt Court, Fleet Street. — Over against the 
Bolt-in-Tun, the noted coach-office of olden 
times. Bolt-in-Tun (an arrow or bolt-head 
through a cask) is a rebus expansion of 
Bolton, the name of the family who owned 
the property. At one time puerilities of 
this kind were much in fashion. They 



38 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

were termed " rebus names," and may be 
found on the title-pages of many old books. 
This particular device may be seen beneath 
Prior Bolton's window in St Bartholomew's 
Church. 

Bond Court, Walbrook. — Formerly Bond's 
Court. The possessive indicates a surname, 
probably that of the owner. William Bond 
was alderman in 1567, and Sir George 
Bond mayor in 1587 ; but whether either 
of these was connected with the property I 
cannot ascertain. 

Boss Court, Upper Thames Street, is indebted 
for its name to the "boss," or conduit erected 
here in accordance with the Will of Whit- 
tington. Stow calls this and other conduits 
" bosses of water," boss being obviously 
connected with the French bouche, a mouth 
or opening from which the water flowed. 

Boswell Court, Fleet Street, was not con- 
nected with the great biographer. It was 
the site of Boswell House, the residence of 
an Elizabethan gentleman, of whom nothing 
more is known. 

Botolph Lane is so named from the parish 
church which formerly stood in Thames 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 39 

Street, and said to be of Saxon foundation. 
The church, which was St Botolph, Billings- 
gate, is now united with St George, Botolph 
Lane. The wharf at the bottom of the 
lane, known, it is stated, in the Conqueror's 
time as Botolph's Gate, marks the site of the 
foot of the original London Bridge {which see). 

Bow Lane. — From the Church of St Mary-le-Bow 
or de Arcubus. (See Churches, Appendix I.) 

Boy Court, Ludgate Hill. — Formerly Naked 
Boy Court, from an old sign, but we are 
somewhat more modest nowadays. (See 
Horseshoe Court.) 

Brabant Court, Philpot Lane, probably 
marks the site of a settlement of immigrants 
from the Low Country province. John, 
Duke of Brabant, temp. Edward L, granted 
great privileges to the Merchant Adven- 
turers, one of our earliest mercantile cor- 
porations ; and the fourteenth century was 
marked by a considerable trade with Bra- 
bant. The court has a very strong old 
city flavour. There is a weird look about 
the place ; and it always appears to be 
beyond " the busy hum of men." 

Bread Street. — The quarter assigned to bakers 



40 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

in olden time for the disposal of their wares. 
Until the reign of Edward L, bread was 
made mostly at Bromley and Stratford, or 
elsewhere without the city, and could be 
sold within the city only at or adjacent to 
the market here, at the market price. The 
reason of the restriction as regards locality 
is not clear, unless it was to prevent con- 
fusion and variation as to price. Stow 
informs us that the bread brought into the 
city was ' ' two ounces in the penny wheat 
loaf heavier than the penny wheat loaf 
baked in the city, the same to be sold in 
Cheap " ; and as evidence of the paternal 
solicitude with which the welfare of the 
citizens was guarded, and honesty enforced, 
we read: " Eichard Eeffeham being mayor, a 
baker named John of Stratford, for making 
bread less than the assize, was, with a fool's 
hood on his head, and loaves of bread about 
his neck, drawn on a hurdle through the 
streets of the city." 
Brewers Lane, Upper Thames Street. — A 
reference to the brewing interest, which was 
well represented in Thames Street even in 
Stow's time, as it is now. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 41 

Brickhill Lane, Upper Thames Street, was 
originally Breikels' Lane, being so named 
from one John Breikels, sometime owner 
thereof. He left an annual sum of £9 to 
keep an " obit," a form of prayer to be read 
on the anniversary of his death for the 
repose of his soul. He evidently had 
ground for doubt respecting his posthumous 
peace. 

Bride Street Lane, Court, etc., commemorate 
Bride Well, a fount sacred to St Brigit, or 
Bridget, of which Bride is an abbreviation. 
Brigit was a king's daughter, and the only 
Irish female saint honoured in our city, or 
indeed, as it is said, in the whole country. 
The site of the old well was until recently 
indicated by a pump on the east side of the 
church wall in Bride Lane, but is now boarded 
up, exhibiting its spout only, as an interest- 
ing memento to the enthusiastic antiquary. 
Between the well and the river was a castle 
and royal residence from the days of William 
the Conqueror. On its site a palace was 
built by Henry VIII. in 1522 ; given by 
Edward VI., in 1553, to the Mayor of Lon- 
don for the commonalty and citizens as a 



42 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

" Workhouse for the poor, and as a house of 
correction for the strumpet and idle person ; 
for the rioter that consumeth all ; and for 
the vagabond that will abide in no place." 
It subsequently became a prison only, 
and so remained until its demolition in 
1864. 

Bridgewater Street, Barbican, records the site 
of a residence of the Earls of Bridgewater. 

Broad Street was so named at the time of its re- 
construction as a recognition of its superior 
width. Previously it was known by the 
much less euphonious title of Pig Street, 
in honour of the porcine property of the 
Hospitallers of St Anthony, which roamed 
hereabout. 

Broken Wharf, Upper Thames Street, curi- 
ously took its name from a Watergate or 
quay, the apparently chronic condition of 
which was that of being broken and falling 
down towards or into the river. This 
dilapidated condition is said to have been of 
such long continuance as to have become an 
inseparable characteristic of the wharf. We 
cannot do otherwise than accept the state- 
ment as correct. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 43 

Bucklersbury does not, as one might at first 
suppose, indicate the locality of the buckler- 
makers' business. It was the site of the 
residence of the Bukerels, a family of con- 
siderable repute. Andrew Bukerel was a 
pepperer, i.e. a druggist, mayor 1231 to 
1237; and other members of the family 
appear in the list of sheriffs. As regards 
the signification of " bury," it is of interest 
to note that its ordinary locative meaning is 
an earthwork, hence a fortified town (O.E. 
burh or hyrig, from beorgan, to hide, indi- 
cating shelter). Its application in London 
appears to signify a residence, as in the 
present instance, and in Lothbury and 
Aldermanbury (which see). Broad Street, 
too, was once Lodingberi, the residence of 
Albert Lotering, a Saxon. In all deriva- 
tions from this root there is the fundamental 
idea of hiding, and so sheltering, or protect- 
ing. Thus in a barrow were hidden the 
ashes of the dead ; a burrow is the hiding- 
place of rabbits (we have the surname 
Conybeare, a rabbit-burrow, as Mr Bards- 
ley has pointed out in his entertaining 
volume on surnames) ; and bury, borough, 



44 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

brough, burgh, originally applied to a raised 
mound for the biding or security of men, 
now indicate a town for the same purpose. 
The extension of meaning to a single resi- 
dence is, I think, traceable to the nascent idea 
that an Englishman's house was his castle, or 
bury, i.e. his place of retreat and security. 
Budge Eow indicates the locality of the dealers 
in " budge," a fine lambs'-skin fur, for- 
merly used for the edging of scholastic 
gowns. Eeaders of Milton (I assume that 
even in these degenerate days, when we are 
overwhelmed by a flood of light, and in 
some respects, questionable literature, there 
are a few) may remember how Comus in his 
crafty philosophy refers to 

" The foolishness of men that lend their ears 
To those budge doctors of the stoic fur." 1 

Budget, in its original meaning, is a bag 
made from lambs'-skin or leather ; now 
applied to the contents, or prospective 
revenue which might be collected therein — 
an instance of transfer of meaning. 
Bull-and-Mouth Street, Aldersgate, is the 

1 i.e. wearing academical cloaks. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 45 

anglicised rendering of Boulogne Mouth, or 
Harbour, a name bestowed in honour of 
the capture of Boulogne by Henry VIII. 
in 1544. Bowl-and-Mouth has also been 
suggested, but has no shadow of fact. 
These linguistic corruptions are somewhat 
curious, illustrating the difficulty we 
English once had in adopting foreign 
nomenclature. Thus Tour de la Eiole is 
stated, although with almost complete 
doubt, to have become transmuted into 
Tower Eoyal (which see) ; the Pige Was- 
hael or the Virgin's Greeting (O.E. wassail, 
whence the wassail bowl) was transposed 
into Pig and Whistle; and Hangman's 
Gains, once a Wapping demesne within the 
Tower precincts, was considered good Eng- 
lish for Hammes et Guynes, a district near 
Calais, whence refugees found retreat in this 
neighbourhood upon the loss of that de- 
pendency by Mary. 
Bull Wharf Lane, Upper Thames Street. 
— From the relative position of the words 
" wharf" and " lane," it is obvious the lane 
has been named from the wharf, which is 
probably the relic of an ancient sign. 



46 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

The Bull was a badge of the Neville 
family. 

Bunhill Fields, — A modern rendering of Bone 
Hill, probably from the sepultures which 
there took place. Many urns, stone coffins, 
and other similar relics have been found on 
the spot. It was supposed that this was 
the site of the Great Plague pit, in Fins- 
bury, described by De Foe in his celebrated 
"Journal of the Plague," a book full of grue- 
some horrors, most graphically and flesh- 
creepily depicted, but modern researches 
appear to prove otherwise. In sober fact, 
it was the depository of over a thousand 
cartloads of bones, removed in 1549 from 
the charnel-house of Old St Paul's. 

Burleigh Street, Strand, is the site of the 
house of the great Lord Burleigh. 

Bury Street, Bevis Marks, occupies the site ot 
the Abbot's House, referred to in Bevis 
Marks. 

Bush Lane, Cannon Street. — Once famous as 
the locality of the needle trade in Lon- 
don, which, however, does not assist us as 
regards the origin of the name; nor does 
anything else with certainty ; but it may 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 47 

probably be ascribed to an old tavern sign, 
the bush being equivalent to ivy, the crown 
of Bacchus. There was an old Eoman say- 
ing, Vino vendibili hedera non est opus 
— Good wine needs no ivy, or bush, or 
Bacchanalian sign to attract customers — but 
we may suppose the tavern in question de- 
termined to demonstrate that the two might 
be co-existent. 
Butler Street, Milton Street, worthily 
honours the author of "Hudibras." Here 
are two contemporary poets, of a very 
different stamp, however, associated by the 
connecting-link of street names. 



c 



Camomile Street. — Taking good old Stow as 
our authority, this recalls to mind the waste 
ground by the city walls and the predomi- 
nant herb which grew thereon. Wormwood 
was the cognate production of the adjacent 
waste. [ am inclined to believe that the 
names of Camomile and Wormwood Street 
do not so much definitely specify the 
abundance of those particular herbs, as 
indicate a luxuriant growth of wild and 
bitter weeds of all kinds, of which camomile 
and wormwood were typical. 

Cannon Street. — A corruption of Candlewick 
Street, formerly the centre of the wax chand- 
lery trade (O.E. ivic or wike, a dwelling-place, 
i.e. of the candlemakers, as Scalding-wike 
in the Poultry, the abode of the scalders). In 
a map of 1604 it is shown as Conning Streete, 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 49 

which was perhaps a stage in development 
of the name, but affords no reasonable 
ground for the suggested derivation from 
Cyning, or King. Old maps are anything 
but infallible authorities in the matter of 
spelling. 

Canon Alley, St Paul's Churchyard, bears, 
of course, a respectful reference to the 
dignitaries of the Cathedral. It formed 
the eastern boundary of the old college of 
the minor canons, and was the site of one 
of the six gates in the enclosure of the 
Cathedral territory. (See Carter Lane and 
Paul's Alley.) It is curious to reflect that 
derivations from Lat. canna, a reed or cane, 
have in one direction come to be applied to 
the deadly weapon of war, and in another — 
by passing through the various gradations 
of a measuring cane, hence a standard of 
measurement, hence a rule or law, hence 
ecclesiastical law, hence the administrators 
of that law — to those whose vocation is one 
of peace. 

Capel Court marks the site of the city house 
of Sir William Capel, draper, and Lord 
Mayor in 1503. 



50 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Carey Lane, Foster Lane, is indebted for its 
name to a former owner of the property, of 
whom I can find no further information. 

Carter Lane is stated to owe its name to the 
circumstance that carriers and others had 
to make this detour to the south after the 
enclosure of St Paul's area in 1284, and 
so it became known specially as the Carters' 
Lane. The statement hardly commends 
itself to one's credulity, and one would be 
rather inclined to connect it with a builder 
or owner's name, but there is no evidence to 
warrant this. This walled enclosure of St 
Paul's was bounded by Carter Lane, Creed 
Lane, Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Eow, 
and Old Change. It was rendered necessary 
because " by the lurking of thieves and 
other lewd people in the night time, within 
the precincts of this churchyard, divers 
robberies, homicides, and other acts of 
violence had been oft times committed 
therein." For further account of which see 
Simpson's " Gleanings from Old St Paul's/' 
(See also Paul's Alley.) 

Carthusian Street. (See Charterhouse.) 

Castle Court, Birchin Lane. — A reminiscence 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 51 

of the sign of an old tavern, which once 
occupied the site. This sign lent its name to 
no fewer than twenty-two of our old courts 
and alleys. It is a common heraldic charge, 
entering into the insignia of many cities and 
to was. It was also a badge of Edward II. 

Castle Court, Lawrence Lane. — A similar 
reminiscence. The court has a flavour of 
Old London about it; and its course into 
Milk Street is somewhat devious. 

Castle Street, Falcon Square.— A memorial 
of the Castle and Falcon Inn, built close 
upon the site of the Aldersgate, upon its 
destruction in 1761. 

Catherine Court, Seething Lane. — One of 
the numerous mementoes of the visit of 
Peter the Great, Emperor of Eussia, to this 
country, upon the invitation of William III. 
in 1697-98. He spent some time in the 
neighbourhood of Tower Hill, and some at 
Deptford amongst the shipping. Catherine 
Court is named in honour of his wife ; and 
Muscovy Court, and the Czar's Head in Tower 
Street, also occur to one's mind. 
Cecil Street, Strand. — A memento of Sir 
Eobert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, the younger 



52 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

son of the great Sir William Cecil, Lord 
Burleigh, who has left his name in Burleigh 
Street. 

Chadwell Street, Myddelton Square. — Chad- 
well Spring in Hertfordshire was the source 
of the New Eiver water which Sir Hugh 
Myddelton brought to London, and the 
name is therefore appropriately bestowed 
upon one of the streets of the locality 
associated with that benefactor. (See 
Myddelton Square.) 

Chancery Lane. — A house near " the foot," or 
south end of the lane, belonging to the 
Bishops of Chichester ; one of whom — the 
last who made the place his residence — was 
Chancellor of England, 1292-1307. Hence 
Chancellor's Lane, and by easy metamorphosis 
Chancery Lane. Prior to this it was known as 
New Street. The etymological connection of 
cancel, chancel, chancellor and chancery, is 
noteworthy. The Latin cancelli, lattice- 
work, is the common godfather. We cancel 
writing by making cross-bars like lattice- 
work; the chancel was formerly enclosed 
with lattices, as it is now with rails or 
gates ; and the judgment -seat in the chan- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 53 

eery, or chancellor's court, was surrounded 
with cross-bars. 

Change Alley. — An abbreviation of Exchange 
Alley, the chief centre of financial opera- 
tions, when the business of the Stock 
Exchange was transacted at the famed 
Jonathan's Coffee House, which was situated 
in the Alley. The Koyal Exchange had 
become too crowded for those mysterious 
persons, known as " jobbers," and so in 1698 
they transferred the locale of their exhilara- 
ting profession to the Alley, which then 
became known as Exchange Alley. In 1773 
they removed to " New Jonathan's," in 
Capel Court, a name for which " The 
Stock Exchange " was speedily substituted, 
and the memory of Jonathan rapidly grew 
dim. 

Chapel Place, Poultry, is a reminiscence of 
the old chapel to which the passage formed 
an entry. 

Chapter House Court, St Paul's Church- 
yard, runs round the side and back of the 
present Chapter House. The old Chapter 
House was adjacent to the south porch of 
the former cathedral, but was transferred to 



54 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the north upon the clearance necessary for 
Wren's work. 

Charterhouse Street, Square, and Lane, 
recall to mind the old Chartreuse or Carthu- 
sian monastery here situated. The Order 
had its origin at Chartreuse, in France, 
where St Bruno retired in 1086 with six 
companions, built hermitages, and clothed 
and fed themselves with wholesome but 
unpleasant severity. They are chiefly 
known now by their choice liqueurs. The 
Charter House, which is Chartreuse angli- 
cised, was one of four foundations settled in 
England in 1180. The Square occupies the 
site of the churchyard. 

Cheapside. — The road which skirted the West 
Cheap, or market-place, as distinguished 
from the East Cheap. The West Cheap 
was a spacious open area from which there 
branched streets of booths and shops of the 
type made familiar to us by revivals of Old 
London. Che&ipside, of course, ran by the 
side of the market-place. 

Christ Church Passage, Newgate Street, 
is the retired thoroughfare round the church 
from Newgate Street to King Edward Street, 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 55 

speaking eloquently, as one of the old nooks 
of London, with the buildings of the Grey 
Friars and those added in 1682 by the 
munificence of Alderman Eobert Clayton 
(as the mural tablet testifies), gazing upon 
us and directing our minds to the long vista 
of the past. 

Church Alley, Basinghall Street, is con- 
tiguous to St Michael's Bassishaw, a cor- 
rupted form of the Basings' Haugh or Hall, 
which gave its name to the street and ward. 
(See Basinghall Street.) 

Church Court, Clement's Lane, Lombard 
Street. — A eul-de-sac by the side of St 
Clements-near-Eastcheap. The original name 
of the church, St Clement's Eastcheap, tells 
us how the East Cheap formerly extended so 
far, and we are reminded that King William's 
statue occupies the site of the famous Shake- 
spearian Boar's Head, situated in what was 
then Eastcheap, much curtailed to make 
room for the new London Bridge approaches. 

Church Court, Old Jewry. — The southern 
boundary of the yard of St Olave's, of which 
little now remains. The tower of the old 
church, left to tell its tale, half converted 



56 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

into offices, calls to mind the fact that Wren 
built his towers separate from the body of 
the church, as though foreseeing that future 
times might desire to remove the one and 
leave the other. The clock, bearing date 
1824, handless and probably workless, is a 
melancholy symbol of the past, of time gone 
beyond redemption. The church was for- 
merly known as St Olave's Upwell, from the 
well, marked until recently by a pump 
by the Ironmonger Lane railings, but now 
removed. 

Church Court, Lothbury, borders St Mar- 
garet's on the east and north. A cul-de- 
sac, with an air of calm retirement, almost 
sacred in its peacefulness, which much com- 
mends itself to the few weary wanderers who 
penetrate its precincts. Below runs, or ran, 
the course of the Wall Brook, vaulted over 
upon the rebuilding of the church in 1440. 
But the present church dates from after the 
Great Fire, 1666. 

Church Entry, Carter Lane, is a reminis- 
cence of St Anne's, Blackfriars. A portion 
of the old burying-ground remains, and there 
is a mausoleum air about the whole place. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 57 

In the wall of the first of the block of houses 
is inserted an ancient stone, bearing date 
1620, recording the care of the Lady Vice 
Countesse Elizabeth Lomley, for the poor of 
the precinct. I am glad to call attention to 
her munificence, two hundred and seventy- 
six years afterwards. Thus is the memory 
of one's good deeds kept for ever green ! 

Church Passage, Gresham Street, runs round 
St Lawrence Jewry, and has no noteworthy 
feature. 

Church Eow, Fenchurch Street, bounds the 
western side of St Katharine Coleman, lead- 
ing by a devious, malodorous, and darksome 
alley to Crutched Friars. Coleman's haw 
or garden was annexed to the church, and 
probably belonged before its annexation to 
the family referred to in Coleman Street. 

Church Row, Houndsditch, lies under the 
shadow of St Botolph, Aldgate. 

Church Row, Walbrook, between St Stephen's 
and the Mansion House, has a certain cheer- 
fulness imparted to it by the pleasant little 
churchyard garden. I never travel round 
here without gazing with a kind of respectful 
awe upon the kitchen windows of the civic 



58 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

palace, and meditating upon the magnifi- 
cent gastronomic preparations almost con- 
tinuously progressing inside. 

Church Street, Minories. — The quaint old 
structure of Holy Trinity Church yet stands 
to justify the name. It was rebuilt in 1706. 
For its connection with the Minoresses, or 
poor nuns of St Clare, see Minories. 

Clare Market and Clarehouse Court mark 
the site of the Clare House and Gardens, 
belonging to the Earls of Clare, afterwards 
Dukes of Newcastle. 

Clark's Place, Bishopsgate Street, derives its 
name from the builder or owner, now sunk 
into oblivion. 

Clement's Court, Wood Street. — The origin of 
the name is doubtful, but it is probably that 
of a former owner of the property. 

Clement's Danes, is either the burial site of 
noble Danes, or the dwelling-place allotted 
to those of that nation, who, having married 
English women, were allowed to remain in 
London, when others less fortunate or 
judicious were expelled. St Clement was 
Bishop of Rome, a disciple of St Peter. 

Clement's Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 59 

Clement's Lane, Lombard Street. — From the 
Church. (See Church Court, Clement's 
Lane.) 

Clerkenwell, or Clerk's "Well (O.E. plural 
en) ; one of the old wells which fed the Fleet 
Eiver. In this neighbourhood were repre- 
sented the Miracle Plays in the open air by 
the worshipful Parish Clerks of London. 
They acted some " Large History of Holy 
Scripture," such as the Creation of the World, 
a play which consumed eight days in the 
performance, in 1409, " whereat was present 
most part of the nobility and gentry of 
England." Until recently the curious inves- 
tigator might have seen a pump at the end of 
Farringdon Eoad, by Eay Street, erected four 
feet westward of the spring which was the old 
original well ; but it has now been removed. 
In the Miller's Tale, Chaucer tells us how 

" The parish clerk e, the joly Absolon, 
Sometimes to shew his lightnesse and maistrie, 
He plaieth Herode on a skaffold hie." 

The Parish Clerks' is the second oldest of 
the City Companies. It was instituted in 
1232. It appears to have been a special func- 
tion of its members to act in these old miracle 



60 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

plays. The ecclesiastical dignitary as we 
know him (or knew him, for I am afraid he 
is almost, if not quite, extinct), whose special 
office was to encourage and cheer the minister 
by his hearty responses in the church ser- 
vice, was a more modern institution, dating 
from the Eeformation. 
Clerkenwell Close. — The Clerks' Well was 
used by the brothers of the adjacent Priory 
of St John, and the present close formed a 
part of the old convent cloisters. 
Clifford's Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 
Cloak Lane. — It is strange that the origin of 
this name, comparatively modern, is quite 
unknown. It is referred by some to cloaca, 
on account of an old sewer running here ; 
but apart from this being in itself an in- 
sufficient explanation, because applicable to 
any other portion of the sewer's course, its 
previous name was Horsebridge (which 
crossed the Wall Brook) Lane, and it is most 
improbable that a name of Latin derivation 
would supersede this. It may perhaps be 
referred to an owner of the property ; but 
in any case it is unsatisfactory that no 
authentic record exists. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 61 

Cloth Fair, Smithfield, was a portion of 
Bartholomew Fair. The Cloth Fair was 
long the resort of drapers, and was a great 
centre for the wares of French and Flemish 
merchants. The booths were within the 
churchyard of the Priory. {See Bartholo- 
mew Close.) 

Cobb's Court, Carter Lane, owes its name to a 
former owner of property, of whom nothing 
further is publicly recorded. It is probably 
the narrowest court in London, insulating by 
a streak of empty space a block of buildings 
at the north-west corner of Carter Lane. 

Cold Bath Square and Fields mark the site 
of an ancient spring, utilised in its palmiest 
days as a lucrative bathing establishment, 
in the early part of the eighteenth century. 

Coleman Street. — The locality of the coalmen, 
or charcoal burners, as some say; a memento 
of the builder, one Coleman, as Stow con- 
jectures ; or of Ceolmund, a sheriff or 
portreeve, who had a farm near the West 
Gate (afterwards New Gate), as others say. 
The first explanation is the most probable, 
and may be accepted, as it is known the 
charcoal burners were in the neighbourhood 



62 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

two centuries before the builder, Coleman, 
and the sheriff is somewhat mythical. 
College Hill. — The site of Whittington College 
and Almshouses, built by the executors of 
the illustrious Eichard. These were removed 
to Highgate in 1808, and the name of College 
Hill alone remains to remind us of our former 
possession. 
Copthall Court, Throgmorton Street, ap- 
parently perpetuates the memory of an 
owner of the property, but his name appears 
to be the only information we have respect- 
ing him. 
Corbet Court, Gracechurch Street, formerly 
Corbet's Court. The possessive case indicates 
a surname, probably that of a former owner, 
otherwise consigned to obscurity. 
Cornhill, or, as Stow calls it, Cornhill Street, 
was not, as would naturally suggest itself, 
had we not historic knowledge to the con- 
trary, the hill upon which the corn-market 
was held. Its name is due to the Corenhell 
family, who were considerable landowners 
in the city in the time of Henry III. 
Members of the family appear at various 
times in the list of Sheriffs. One, Henry, 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 63 

filled this office in 1189, during the mayor- 
alty of Fitz Aylwin, the first Mayor of 
London ; another was Dean of St PauTs in 
1251. As, however, a charter of William 
Eufus makes mention of one Edward 
Hupcornhill, I think it is a fair supposition 
that the surname may have been derived 
from the locality, as there certainly was a 
hill, leaving the origin of Corn still in 
doubt. 

As regards the corn-market, we may note 
it was held on the north-east of St Paul's, 
by the end of Paternoster Kow, as indicated 
by the Church of St Michael-le-Querne (O.E. 
cwern, a corn-mill), or AdBladum (a blade of 
corn) by St Martins-le- Grand, a church now 
removed. The Corn Cheap was squeezed 
out of existence when the Cathedral precincts 
were walled in in 1284. (See Carter Lane.) 

Cousin Lane, Upper Thames Street, formerly 
Cosin Lane, from William Cosin, a resident 
of long standing, and presumably owner of 
the property. He was Sheriff in 1305. 

Covent Garden was the garden of the convent 
of the monks of Westminster Abbey. The 
Broad Sanctuary and the Savoy also belonged 



64 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

to the abbots and monks of "Westminster. 
Upon the dissolution of the monasteries the 
convent garden fell into the hands of the 
Eussell family. The Earls of Bedford here 
built a manse, and upon its removal the 
site was occupied by Southampton Street, 
Eussell Street, Tavistock Street, Bedford 
Street, and others of kindred names. If 
we travel a little further north, to Blooms- 
bury, we have evidence of the subsequent 
settlement of the family there, in such names 
as Bedford Square, Southampton Street, 
Eussell and Tavistock Squares. But this is 
somewhat discursive, and beyond our city 
boundaries. 

Convent became Covent from the Norman 
French convent, the u being elided. 

Cowcross Street serves to remind us of the old 
stone cross which adorned this spot, the 
specific name having reference to the whole- 
sale meat market which centred round here ; 
but why Cow Cross in preference to Bull 
Cross is an inscrutable mystery. Cowcross 
Bridge spanned the adjacent Fleet. 

Cowper's Court, Cornhill, is not named in 
honour of the poet, as one might have hoped; 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 65 

its title is of much older date. Sir William 
Cowper, Bart., temp. James L, was owner of 
much property hereabouts, and has left his 
name as a testimony. A monumental in- 
scription to Sir William and his wife exists (or 
did exist) in St Michael's. It states (or did 
state) that his fourth son — " In pious memory 
of his parents erected this monument, and 
died a bachelor." His celibacy may be 
accepted as an indubitable proof of filial 
affection ! 

Craven Street, Strand, is the site of the 
quondam Earls of Cravens London resi- 
dence. 

Cree Church Lane, Leadenhall Street, 
derives its name from the adjacent church 
of St Katharine Cree. Inigo Jones built 
three Gothic churches in London, to wit, 
this, the Chapel of Lincoln's Inn, and St 
Alban's, Wood Street. Of these St Katha- 
rine Cree is the only one remaining. It is 
situated in what was the cemetery of the 
conventual Church of Holy Trinity, which 
was originally called Christ Church. Holy 
Trinity Priory stood to the north of the 
Aldgate. Cree^ is an ingenious and unrea- 



66 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

sonable abbreviation of Christ. This was 
one of the few churches which was spared 
by the Great Fire, and dates back to 1631. 
We may therefore gaze upon the holy pile 
with veneration. 

Creed Lane obviously has some relation to the 
neighbouring cathedral (See Paternoster 
Row.) It was formerly Spurrier's Row, the 
seat of the spurriers' trade. 

Cripplegate. (See Gates.) 

Crooked Lane. — Of the original thoroughfare 
there is but a small, and that a straight, 
portion left. In its entirety it wound its 
sinuous way as far as the eastern side 
of the present London Bridge, to make 
room for the approach to which it was 
almost annihilated. It is pleasant to see 
that its traditional notoriety as the abode 
of fish-tackle manufacturers is maintained 
to the present day by one or two worthy 
representatives. 

Crosby Square. — Crosby Place was built by Sir 
John Crosbie, grocer and wool stapler, a 
worthy citizen, and Lord Mayor in 1470. 
The domicile has had a chequered career, 
reminding us of the mutability of human 
affairs. Built as a city mansion, it affords 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 67 

to the architectural eye a fine example of 
Gothic of the perpendicular period. About 
1672 it was transformed into a Presbyterian 
chapel. Then, after many years, the with- 
drawing-room and throne-room were let as 
warehouses or store-rooms to the East India 
Company. The Hall afterwards passed into 
the hands of a packer. In 1836 its partial 
restoration was effected by public subscrip- 
tion. From 1842 to 1860 it served the 
purpose of a literary and scientific institute ; 
and now in the character of a popular 
restaurant, the nourishment of the body in 
lieu of that of the mind is its chief concern. 
Sic transit gloria mundi. What would, or 
does, good old Sir John think of these 
various uses, some of a baser sort, to which 
his noble residence has been applied ? Its 
history in extenso may be found in Cassell's 
" Old and New London," and will amply 
repay perusal. The present Square was 
built in 1677, and its houses stand on the 
site of a portion of the old mansion. 
Cross Lanes and Cross Streets. — The numerous 
Cross Lanes and Streets, like Union Streets, 
are names used to mark connecting thorough- 
fares, and are not designed to have any 



68 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

meaning beyond this single fact of crossing 
or uniting. It is obvious this circumstance 
was predominant upon their construction, 
being, in fact, their original raison d'etre, 
and future confusion was not considered. 
Streets which take their name from the 
then existence of a cross therein have the 
cross specialised, as in White and Eed Cross 
Streets (which see). 
Cross Key Court, London Wall, and Cross 
Key Square, Little Britain, have the 
origin of their names in an old sign of 
ecclesiastical reference, a not uncommon 
sign prior to the Reformation, the crossed 
keys being the arms of the papal see, the 
emblem of St Peter. In the insignia of 
the Fishmongers' Company, whose patron 
saint is St Peter, the cross keys figure 
largely. Medieval inns having this sign 
were under some ecclesiastical influence — it 
might be of locality only — or were the 
resting-places of pilgrims. We call to mind 
the lines ofMiltoninthepoem of "Lycidas" : 

" Last came and last did go 
The pilot of the Galilean lake ; 
Two massy keys he bore of metals twain, 
The golden opes, the iron shuts amain." 



LOttDQtf STREET KAMES. 69 

Albeit a gold and a silver key are the 
heraldic device. 

Crown Court, of which there are several, the 
name originating in an old tavern sign. It 
speaks well for the lo}^alty of the old citi- 
zens that there oncee xisted some threescore 
courts and alleys of this name ; but, withal, 
it must have been somewhat confusing. 

Crutched Friars commemorates the site of 
one of the principal religious fraternities 
which settled in London, enumerated in 
the Note upon Blackfriars. The crutched, 
crouched, or crossed friars were distin- 
guished by a red cross on the back of their 
robes, and carried a cross in their hands, at 
first of iron, but afterwards, as their means 
increased, of silver. Their monastery was 
behind Seething Lane, opposite St Olave's 
Church. The site was afterwards that of 
the Navy House, and is now that of the 
Crutched Friars' Warehouses. 

The word " crutch" is still found retaining 
its meaning of cross in the cripple's crutch, 
which has a cross-piece on top. Crusade 
and crozier are of the same philological 
family ; and crook, crotch, crotchet, crochet, 



70 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

and cricket, in all of which a cross is con- 
noted, are connected. But this by the way. 

Cullum Street is the site of the residence of 
Thomas Cullum, sheriff in 1646, a no doubt 
worthy citizen, but now relegated to ob- 
scurity, for nothing is known of him but 
what this name conveys. 

Culver Court, Fenchurch Street. — An obscure 
and unsavoury cul-de-sac, whose name is 
probably a memento of the long-forgotten 
owner. A member of the Culver family 
carried on business in Lombard Street in 
1416. One cannot associate the place with 
anything dove-like (O.E. culfre, a dove or 
pigeon). Stow informs us it was sometime 
a lane which led from Fenchurch Street to 
the middle of Lime Street, but "was 
stopped up for suspicion of thieves that 
lurked there by night." So it remains 
closed to this day, abutting upon premises 
in Billiter Square. 

Curtain Koad, Shoreditch, is rather beyond 
our boundary, but is worthy of note from 
the fact that it is a memento of the Curtain 
Theatre, the second metropolitan building 
devoted to the drama, " The Theatre," in the 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 71 

same neighbourhood, preceding it by a few 
years. Mention is made of it in 1578 ; and 
it derived its name from the circumstance 
that it was built on land called the Curtain, 
a part of the precinct of the dissolved 
Priory of Holywell. Its site was the pre- 
sent Hewitt Street, formerly Curtain Court. 
For a history of Early London Theatres, 
see work by T. F. Ordish. 

Cushion Court, Old Broad Street, has its 
name from an old sign. The Cushion was 
a charge borne on the escutcheon of several 
of our ancient families. The court is now 
devoted to stock and share brokers. 

Cutler Street, Houndsditch, is the site of the 
old centre of the cutlery trade, and, 1 believe, 
still forms part of the Cutlers' Company's 
property. On the first house on the right- 
hand side as one enters is a tablet bearing 
date 1734, whereon the name is spelt 
Cuttlers' Street (so we have a double t in 
cuttle, the fish with the knife -like bone), 
and beneath is a representation of the Com- 
pany's arms, in a state of excellent preser- 
vation. The street is now devoted to the 
second-hand clothes business, in the midst 
of the Jewish Quarter. 



D 



Dean's Court, Old Bailey, has reference to 
the diaconal dignitaries of the neighbouring 
cathedral. As one stands at the dark entry- 
he wonders what could possibly suggest the 
clerical title for such a wretched little place. 
There is also a Bishop's Court in the Old 
Bailey, and the adjacent "Warwick Lane 
was formerly Old Dean Court. 

Dean's Court, St Paul's Churchyard, is 
satisfactorily named as containing the resi- 
dence of the Dean of St Paul's. 

Devereux Court, Strand. — A memento of 
Devereux, the misguided Earl of Essex, 
being the site of his town residence. 

Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate, was the 
town residence of the Dukes of Devonshire 
during the seventeenth century, but not 
later, I think, than 1670. The house is 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 73 

described as "a magnificent structure, 
called in derision to the builder 'Fisher's 
Folly/ which came first to the Earl of 
Oxford, and afterwards to the Earl of 
Devonshire." 

Dionis Yard, Fenchurch Street, may be 
regarded as a memento of St Dionis Back- 
church, which, however, stood close by 
Lime Street. St Dionis was Dionysius, the 
Areopagite, the first bishop of Athens, con- 
secrated by St Paul. He also appears as 
the French St Denis. The origin of the 
cognomen Backchurch is doubtful, but is 
with probability ascribed to the circum- 
stance that the church occupied a somewhat 
obscure position behind another building, 
back from the main thoroughfare — the 
adjacent St Gregory (also now no more) 
occupying a prominent position, being 
known as Forechurch for distinction sake. 
Concerning the yard in question, it may 
be observed it has many characteristics of 
an old London cul-de-sac. 

Distaff Lane, Cannon Street. — Stow states 
this is corruptly written for Distar Lane. 
The name of Distaff is ascribed to the sign 



74 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

of an inn long existing in the lane. It is 
difficult to assign a meaning to Distar ; but 
if it was really correct, one might conjecture 
the O.E. dystig, dusty, as the etymon ; 
but it is more probable that Stow was 
mistaken. 
Doctors' Commons. — The Common House of 
Doctors of the Law, who, to obviate the 
inconvenience caused by their several courts 
and offices being held in various parts of 
the city, resolved to live in common to- 
gether in the collegiate manner (communis 
= serving together). Their first abode was 
a small house where now stands the King's 
Head Tavern in Paternoster Row. Thence 
they removed to St Bennet's Hill, and 
then to St Paul's Churchyard. Many 
courts, ecclesiastical and other, have been 
held here, to wit, as enumerated by Strype : 
(1) Court of Arches ; (2) Court of Audience ; 
(3) Prerogative Court ; (4) Court of Faculties 
and Dispensations ; (5) Court of Admiralty ; 
(6) Court of Delegates ; (7) Commission of 
Review. In 1857, upon the establishment 
of the Divorce and Probate Courts, the 
charter of the Commons was surrendered, 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 75 

the Corporation was dissolved, and its 
various functions were transferred to other 
courts and tribunals. And with them has 
disappeared by rebuilding of premises the 
"low archway, with bookseller's at one 
corner, hot-el on the other, and two porters 
in the middle touting for licenses," which 
was Sam Weller's lucid direction to Mr 
Jingle in quest of a marriage license. The 
whole place is changed, and its romance and 
poetry are gone for ever. 

Dolphin Court, Ludgate Hill, so named 
from the tavern sign, which remains to this 
day. In the Mediaeval Age the dolphin was 
the special device of the Dauphins, the 
eldest sons of the kings of France. It is 
also the charge of various noble English 
families. 

Dorset Court and Street recall to mind the 
Sackvilles, Earls of Dorset, whose town 
residence occupied this site. 

Dove Court, Old Jewry. — An obscure thorough- 
fare connecting the Old Jewry and Grocers' 
Hall Court ; no doubt a relic, in name, of 
the columbar section of the Poultry Market. 

Dowgate Hill. (See Gates.) 



76 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Duck's Foot Lane, Upper Thames Street. — 
A corruption of Duke's Foot Lane, a foot- 
path in connection with the residence of 
the Dukes of Suffolk, whose town house 
was where is now Suffolk Lane (which 
see). 

Duke's Place and Street, Aldgate, occupy 
the site of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, 
dissolved by the ecclesiastical reformer, 
Henry VIII. The property subsequently 
came into the possession of the Duke of 
Norfolk, whose memory is thus perpetuated 
in this locality. In the time of Cromwell 
the Jews took up their quarters here, and 
have remained unmolested ever since. (See 
Old Jewry.) 

Duke's Head Passage, Ivy Lane. — An old sign 
of the past. There is no longer, if ever 
there was, anything of a ducal nature about 
the passage, now nothing more than a poor, 
mean little connecting-link between Ivy 
Lane and Paternoster Square. 

Dunster Court, Mincing Lane. — An old 
thoroughfare connecting Mincing and Mark 
Lanes, named after the owner of the 
property, now transformed into a covered 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 77 

corridor. The courtyard boasts of buildings 
of some magnificence. 

Drapers' Gardens, Throgmorton Street. — The 
gardens pertaining to the Hall which was 
formerly the mansion of Lord Cromwell. 
The Drapers' Company purchased the pro- 
perty in 1541. 

Drury Lane is a little beyond our western 
boundary, but may be noted as a reminis- 
cence of Sir Drew Drury, an owner of 
considerable property here and in the 
city. 

Dyer's Court, Aldersmanbury, so named from 
a former owner. It has no connection 
with the Dyers' Company. Here is about 
the site of the old Aldermen's Bury — " the 
little old cottage in Aldermanbury Street," 
of which Stow speaks — which Thomas 
Knolles, grocer, mayor in 1399, and his 
brother aldermen decided should be super- 
seded by a noble building, and so instituted 
the new Guildhall, on a plot of ground 
immediately to the east. 



E 



Earl Street, Blackfriars, was named in 
honour of Pitt, Earl of Chatham, "the 
heaven-born minister." The old Blackfriars' 
Bridge, completed in 1766, was originally- 
named Pitt Bridge, "the citizens of Lon- 
don having unanimously voted this bridge 
to be inscribed with the name of William 
Pitt." Alas for the transitoriness of human 
greatness, the local name speedily reas- 
serted itself! 

Eastcheap. — The cheap or market-place (O.E. 
ceap) of the east. Cheapside's earlier 
name was West Cheap, in contradistinction. 
In very early times Eastcheap was mainly 
a flesh market, and was occupied chiefly by 
butchers and cooks. It extended west- 
ward as far as St Clement's Church, now 
in King William Street, but still bearing 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 79 

the title of St Clement's-near-Cheapside. 
It was curtailed to make room for the 
approach to the new bridge. The old 
course of the street is indicated by the 
fact that King William's statue occupies 
the site of the famous Boar's Head Tavern, 
sacred to the memory of Falstaff. 

East India Avenue, Leadenhall Street, 
commemorates the old East India Com- 
pany, on the site of whose house it stands, 
recalling to mind, as one journeys by, 
Hastings, Clive, Charles Lamb, and others. 
Why should not these and kindred names 
be applied to the lateral courts of the 
central avenue ? 

Ely Place, Holborn. — Somewhat beyond our 
limits, but demands notice as commemorat- 
ing the residence of the Bishop of Ely, and 
forming the basis of a well-known passage 
in Shakespeare. The readers of the " divine 
William" will remember how Gloucester, 
pretending extreme thirst, exclaimed — 

11 My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn 
I saw good strawberries in your garden there. 
I do beseech you send for some of them," 

and how the bishop himself went to obtain 



80 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

some, and returning, found the crafty 
Gloucester gone. 

Essex Street and Court, Strand, mark the 
site of the old town mansion of the Earls of 
Essex. 

Evangelist Court, Blackfriars, is nominally 
in keeping with its ecclesiastical surround- 
ings, and for this reason only, so far as I can 
ascertain, the name was bestowed. It has 
no perceptible attributes of an evangelical 
nature, but the evangelist undoubtedly 
harmonises with the adjacent pilgrim. 

Exeter Street, Strand, is the site of the town 
house of the Earl of Exeter, the eldest son 
of the famous Lord Burleigh. 



F 



Falcon Court, Fleet Street, owes its name to 
the sign of an old tavern. 

Falcon Square, Aldersgate. — A memorial of 
the Castle and Falcon Inn, a noted hostelry, 
built near the site of the Alders Gate upon 
its removal in 1761. 

Fann Court, Miles' Lane, has its name from a 
former owner of the property. Its appear- 
ance does not commend it. 

Farringdon Street. — Sir William Farringdon, 
goldsmith, Sheriff in 1280, purchased the 
Aldermanry of the Ward, and endowed it 
with his name, laying the foundation of a 
considerable estate. 

Feathers Court, Milk Street. — An old sign. 
Ostrich feathers were a favourite badge of 
our princes in the Middle Ages ; and from 
the time of the Black Prince, who adopted 



82 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

them from the King of Bohemia, conquered 
at the battle of Crecy, they have formed 
the crest of the Prince of Wales. 

Fell Street, Wood Street, bears the name of 
a former owner of the property. He may 
or may not (probably not) be connected 
with the celebrated Doctor Fell, Dean of 
Christ Church, who, according to the well- 
known distich, incurred dislike for no expli- 
cable reason. 

Fenchurch Street. — The church which gave 
its name to the street owed its distinctive 
appellation to its situation in the fenny 
district of the Lang Bourne, so that the 
Ward received the name of Fenny About as 
well as Langbourne. This little but often 
inconvenient stream took its rise somewhere 
in the neighbourhood of Mark Lane, flowed 
westward, across G-racechurch Street, con- 
tinuing its course between where are now 
Lombard and King William Streets, and 
joining the Wall Brook about where the 
Mansion House now stands. A deviation 
to the south formed the Shere Bourne, for 
which see Sherborne Lane. The derivative 
from fcenum, indicating the adjacent Hay- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 83 

market, has no foundation in fact, and is 
not now entertained by antiquaries. 

Fetter Lane. — Formerly Fewter — Stowsays from 
the "fewters " (a now obsolete word), idle or 
depraved people, who here congregated. 
Stow had a remarkable degree of boldness in 
some of his conjectures, and this derivation 
does not commend itself to one's enquiring 
mind. It has been suggested with more 
probability that the name had its origin in 
the felters, or makers of felt, who also carried 
on their business here. 

Finch Lane, Cornhill, formerly Finke's Lane, 
commemorates the Finke family, which had 
a high legal reputation, and were owners of 
the property. The most notable member 
was Sir Heneage Finke, Lord Chancellor in 
1675. Eobert Finke is stated to have 
rebuilt the church of St Benedict or St 
Bennet in the seventeenth century, whence 
it received the cognomen of Finke. This 
church occupied the site of the Eoyal 
Exchange, and its full name is perpetuated 
by a worthy citizen of Cheapside. 
Finsbury Square, etc., mark the fenny waste 
which, with the moor, now Moorfields, was 



84 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

immediately outside the northern wall. It 
has been argued by Mr Loftie that the burg 
or bury of Fin is not derivable from Fen, as 
it is a personal affix (see Bucklersbury and 
Lothbury). There is, however, no record of 
one Fin having set up his bury or residence 
here, and assuredly he would not have 
altogether died out of remembrance had he 
been so influential as to annex this terri- 
tory. Moreover, so marked a characteristic 
as the fenny nature of the locality was likely 
to determine its name. I am inclined to 
assume that the bury was added as a 
euphonious suffix when London began to 
extend in this direction. 
Fish Street Hill, Thames Street, formerly 
Bridge Street, being the approach to the old 
bridge (see London Bridge), then New Fish 
Street, in contradistinction to the Old Fish 
Street by Friday Street (which see) ; and, 
finally, Fish Street Hill. The fishmongers 
took up their quarters here in the reign of 
Edward I., and St Magnus and St Botolph 
received the mortal remains of the mayors 
and aldermen connected with the fish busi- 
ness. The dealers in fish consisted at first 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 85 

of two communities, namely, the Salt 
Fish and the Stock Fish Mongers, the 
former having been incorporated in 1433, 
the latter in 1509. The division proving 
prejudicial to the profession in general, they 
united, and were incorporated as one in 
1536. The Fishmongers' Company has an 
important and interesting history. 
Fishmongers' Alley, Fenchurch Street, 
indicates the fact that the Fishmongers' 
Company is the freeholder of this (and 
other) property in the neighbourhood. 
Fitchett's Court, Noble Street, originally 
Fitche's, was so named from the owner, 
whose existence having ever been is known 
by this token alone. 
Fleet Street. — The Fleet Eiver, from which, 
it is superfluous to say, the thoroughfare 
derives its name, found its way to the 
Thames through what is now the line of 
Farringdon and Bridge Streets. In one 
part of its course it was known as the Eiver 
of Wells, from the number of springs and 
wells which fed it, namely, the Clerken 
Well, Skinner's Well, Fagge's Well, Tod's, 
Loder's, and Ead Well ; but there is some 



86 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

doubt as to whether all these really did 
find their way to this stream. Where it 
flowed amidst the hollows of the hills on 
the north it was known as the Hollow or 
Hole Bourne, and so gave name to the 
bridge which spanned it by Newgate, and 
to the street which extended thence west- 
ward. From this point to its embouchure, 
at the spot whence now springs the first 
arch of Blackfriars Bridge, in the wall of 
which its outlet may still be seen, it 
received the name of Fleet (O.E. Fleot), 
signifying the navigable (i.e. where vessels 
may float) part of a stream. In Stow's 
time (circa 1600) it had degenerated so 
much as to be spoken of as the Fleet 
Dike. It takes its rise amongst the 
Highgate and Hampstead ponds, by 
Caen Wood ; and to trace its source on a 
bright summer day would surely be no 
unpleasant task, even omitting the practical 
investigation of the Theory of Tittlebats, 
which, in conjunction with that of the source 
of the " mighty Ponds of Hampstead," 
rendered Mr Pickwick famous. For a most 
interesting history of the river's course, its 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 87 

prison, its marriages, and of all doings 
connected with it, see Mr John Ashton's 
valuable work. 

Fleet Lane, Old Bailey. — One of the ancient 
thoroughfares to the margin of the river. 
The whole configuration of this part of the 
city is so changed since the time when the 
Fleet flowed merrily along, and those little 
streets or lanes ran precipitously down to 
its margin, that it requires a powerful effort 
of the imagination to reproduce it to one's 
mind. 

Fleur-de-Lis Court, Carter Lane ; Fleur-de- 
Lis Court, Fetter Lane; Fleur-de-Lis 
Street, Norton Folgate. — These are relics 
of old tavern signs, and indeed in the 
last-named a Fleur-de-Lis hostelry still 
exists. The cognate name, Fleur de Luce, 
of which in olden times there were no fewer 
than fifteen instances, seems to have dis- 
appeared. The fleur-de-lis is a heraldic 
device of three flowers of the white lily, or 
of the white iris, which is called the 
flower de luce. It was the badge of 
the kings of France, and dates back to 
Louis VII. (1137-80), with reference to 



88 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

whom Fleur de Louis has been suggested, 
a conjecture doubtful although plausible. 

Fore Street. — The street immediately before or 
in front of the Cripple Gate, and which 
formed the High Street, as it were, of the 
little village which grew up outside the city 
wall, under the shadow of the protecting 
Barbican, or watch tower. 

Fort Street, Spitalfields, occupies the site 
of the practising ground of the old London 
Artillery Company. Gun Street is cognate. 

Foster Lane, Cheapside, is indebted for its 
name to the parish church of St Vedast 
Foster. St Vedast was an old French 
bishop, of Arras, and Foster is believed to 
have been a benefactor of the church. This 
explanation of the name is more reasonable, 
I think, than that usually given of Foster 
being a familiar form or variation of 
Vedast. 

Founder's Court, Lothbury, was origina]ly 
the site of Founders' Hall, now located in 
St Swithin's Lane. The Company was 
incorporated in 1614, and its special 
function was to test the correctness of 
brass weights, and the quality of brass 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 89 

and copper wares within the city and 
suburbs. 

Fountain Court, Alderm anbury. — A very old 
court, as its appearance testifies. The inn 
sign from which it derived its name was 
by no means uncommon, and probably had 
reference to the city conduits. Stow men- 
tions that a conduit existed in Alderman- 
bury in the fifteenth century. 

Fountain Court, Cheapside, is also a reminis- 
cence of an old fountain tavern. 

Frederick's Place, Old Jewry, was the 
residence of Sir Christopher Frederick, 
surgeon to James I. His son, Sir John, was 
Lord Mayor in 1662. 

Freeman's Court, Cheapside, perpetuates the 
name of a worthy alderman who owned 
property on the site. It will be remembered 
that our great novelist located Dodson and 
Fogg in Freeman's Court, which, however, 
he placed in Cornhill, probably to be in 
proximity to the George and Vulture in 
George Yard, Lombard Street. 

French Horn Court and French Ordinary 
Court, Crutched Friars. — From a tavern 
sign. French Ordinary Court was in 



90 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

existence at least a hundred and sixty years 
ago, and was probably retained when the 
railway terminus under which it burrows 
was constructed, as an old right-of-way. It 
unites Crutched Friars by a devious passage 
with Church Eow, Fenchurch Street. I 
think we may accept Ordinary as an 
expanded corruption of Horn. French 
Horn Court is situated opposite, but I 
believe, from such records as I have been 
able to consult, that French Ordinary Court 
existed first, its name being adapted and 
deviated from a tavern sign (or the tavern 
may have had the same sign ; in which 
case there would be a possible reference to 
an " ordinary "), and restored to its normal 
form upon the construction of French Horn 
Court, at a subsequent period. 

Friar Street, Carter Lane. — A reminiscence 
of the neighbouring Black Friars. The 
street is at the best but an alley. 

Friar's Alley, Upper Thames Street. — Says 
Stow, " formerly Greenwiche Lane, now 
Frier Lane, of such a sign there set up." 
"Probably," adds Larwood, in his book on 
Signboards, "a Blackfriar or Dominican 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 91 

monk, for that Order above all others had 
the reputation of being great topers, and 
therefore was not out of place on a sign- 
board " ; and I am sorry to say that various 
old poems afford evidence of the truth of 
this statement. It may be noted that 
Greenwich Street, a small area between the 
bottom of Friar's and adjacent lanes and 
the river, still exists. 
Friday Street was for long the residence of 
fishmongers, forming the fish market of the 
West Cheap, whence was supplied fish for 
the Friday's market, Friday being the 
recognised fast-from-flesh day. At the 
southern end was Fish Street, subsequently 
Old Fish Street, to distinguish it from New 
Fish Street, founded in the east (see Fish 
Street Hill). The eastern part of Fish 
Street was swept away by Queen Victoria 
Street, and the remainder was absorbed by 
Knightrider Street. On the tower of St 
Mary Somerset Church, which stands a 
solitary, we may say melancholy, relic of 
the edifice, without name or notice of any 
kind, at the corner of Lambeth Hill, in 
Upper Thames Street, and which is note- 



92 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

worthy for its profusion of ornament on the 
summit, is the legend : " Lambeth Hill, late 
Old Fish Street Hill." 
Furnival's Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 
Fyefoot Lane, Upper Thames Street, is a 
slight abbreviation, and yet effectual dis- 
guise, of Five Foot Lane, a name originating 
in the width or narrowness of the thorough- 
fare. Accurately speaking, it is about seven 
feet ; but it may have been narrower when 
the name was first applied, or, as is more 
probable, the nomenclator exaggerated a 
little for effect's sake. , This is no uncommon 
expedient at the present day. 



G 



Gardner's Lane, Upper Thames Street, is no 
doubt derived from a family name ; but it is 
worthy of note that a bas-relief, represent- 
ing a gardener with a spade, existed in the 
street as a sign or symbol of its title until 
some forty years ago. This interesting 
sculpture now finds a resting-place in the 
Guildhall Museum. 

Garlick Hill, in connection with Garlickhithe, 
is a reminiscence of the importation of that 
edible into London, this hithe or wharf 
being the place of landing. That its name 
should thus have been perpetuated indicates 
that a large demand for the article at one 
time existed. It has its modern represen- 
tative in the locality in the more pungent, 
but less offensive mustard. 

Gates. — The names of the various streets which 
owe their origin to the gates of the city 



94 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

are referred to this article upon the Gates 
as a whole, as being the most interesting 
and convenient method of dealing with them ; 
and the article upon London Wall may also 
be read in connection therewith. 

It must not be supposed that all the gates 
which pierced the Eoman wall, and have 
left their names behind, were coeval, and 
existed from the first. They were severally 
constructed as required. It has been diffi- 
cult, with the scant records of the Eoman 
settlement, and has much exercised the 
ingenuity of our archaeologists, to determine 
the times of their construction. But it 
seems now to be tolerably well established 
that the circumvallation of the city (not 
the earliest, for this, the first Koman fortifi- 
cation or citadel, constructed immediately 
that people settled on the east bank of what 
was afterwards known as the Wall Brook, 
circumscribed a small area bounded by what 
are now Cornhill and Leadenhall Street on 
the north, Billiter Street and Mark Lane on 
the east, the Walbrook of course on the 
west, and the river front, supported by 
piles, of which not a vestige remains, on th e 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 95 

south) was at first pierced by two land gates 
only, namely, the West Gate and the North 
Gate, which occupied sites near, but not 
exactly coinciding with, the subsequent 
New Gate and Bishop's Gate respectively. 
The water gates, which there is reason to be- 
lieve were co- existent, were those occupying 
the points afterwards known in the Saxon 
period as Dowgate and Billingsgate, and 
also Ebsgate, at the bottom of what is now 
Old Swan Lane, formerly Ebsgate Lane. 
Aldersgate, Cripplegate, and Moorgate were 
of later date, and Aldgate and Ludgate, 
which later replaced a postern overlooking 
the Fleet, were later still. 

Taking them in topographical sequence, 
we make a complete circuit of the wall from 
point to point, commencing with the south- 
west corner. 
Ludgate. — The origin of the name has been 
much debated, and is not yet finally deter- 
mined. In early legendary days, Lud and 
Belin were regarded as old British kings, 
giving their names to Ludgate and Belins- 
gate, or Billingsgate respectively. The 
latter has been definitely deposed, and it 



96 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

has been decided that the gate was built 
and named by a real Saxon entity (see 
Billingsgate). The former cannot be so 
easily and satisfactorily disposed of. After 
a time Lud was regarded as no more than 
a traditional monarch, and the etymon had 
to yield in favour of a derivative from the 
Fleet, through the transitional phases of 
Flud and Lud. This has been pronounced 
by an eminent authority as "philologi- 
cally impossible " — a bold assertion, which 
I should have supposed no one who knows 
the changes names undergo would have 
dared to make. It has, however, driven Mr 
Loftie, the most thoughtful historian of 
London, to "fall back upon King Lud." 
If I were he, I would not do so. No other 
gate has a British name. Why should the 
Saxons, who named this postern, have en- 
dowed it with one ? There is more to be 
said in favour of Fleet and Flud, and to 
that, I think, we should, until more light be 
shed on the matter, adhere. 
Newgate, near the site of the aboriginal West 
Gate, reconstructed and renamed probably 
in the time of Henry I. or Stephen. 



LONDON SiTJEET NAMES. 97 

The Koman gate was smaller. This was 
the main outlet westward, over Holborn 
Bridge, which spanned the Fleet, and 
thence along a continuation of the Watling 
Street, subsequently named Holborn (which 
see). The room over the gateway was 
used as a place of confinement, and New- 
gate Prison is its ultimate development. 
It is stated that the gruesome gyves and 
fetters, which now adorn the portals of the 
prison, served the same purpose at the old 
gate ; but I will not vouch for the accuracy 
of the tradition. 

Aldersgate. — The origin of the name can only 
be conjectured. It may with probability 
be referred to Ealdred, a noble of Alfred's 
time, a supposition which is strengthened 
by the fact that Ealdredsgate is alluded to 
in the laws of Ethelred. That any con- 
nection existed between it and alder trees 
growing near the spot, as some have 
imagined, is extremely doubtful. 

Cripplegate. — It is stated that the body of 
Edmund the Martyr, in one of its removals 
to escape seizure by the Danes, was con- 
veyed through this gate, and as it passed 
G 



98 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

it diffused a healing influence upon the halt 
and maimed there assembled. In which 
case, however, the name would be due to 
the assembly, rather than to the miracle. 
Credat Judceus Apella, for there is every 
token of improbability about the legend. 
A more reasonable, and the probable, origin 
has been suggested in connection with 
O.E. crypel or cryppel, a den or burrow, 
indicating the narrow, half-underground 
passage from the gate, which was but a 
postern, to the Barbican. 

Moorgate commemorates the moor which ex- 
tended from the city wall to the Middlesex 
woods. It was built in 1415, says old 
Stow, " for the ease of citizens to walk 
that way towards Iseldon (Islington) and 
Hoxton." 

Bishopsgate. — -The north gate of the Eomans. 
Eebuilt by Erkenwald, son of King Offa, 
held in high repute by succeeding ages, 
which regarded him as the second patron 
saint of London, and ascribed innumerable 
miracles to his influence. The gate was 
repaired and renamed by Bishop William, 
in the reign of the Conqueror, and the 



LONDON STREET^NAMES. 99 

effigies of the two Williams adorned the 
structure. As a memento of the old gate 
there may be observed on the houses 
abutting upon Wormwood and Camomile 
Streets the bishop's mitre, with an inscrip- 
tion that " Adjoining to this spot Bishops- 
gate formerly stood." It is interesting to 
know that the Bishop of London was 
accustomed to receive a stick from every 
load of wood which entered the city by 
this gate, and in consideration thereof 
was bound to keep the hinges in repair. 
We have Bishopgate Within and Without. 
The former indicates the portion of the 
thoroughfare within the boundary of the 
old wall or the ancient city liberties ; the 
latter is an extension of the liberties, 
rendered necessary by the growth of the 
metropolis, to Norton Folgate (see Bars). 
Aldgate, speciously interpreted as the Old 
Gate, but, it is held, incorrectly so. The 
name has no connection with eald, or 
old ; and there is reason to believe it was 
not constructed until after the Roman era — 
perhaps, says Loftie, in the reign of Edgar 
or Edward the Confessor, but there is no 



100 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

certainty. It provided an outlet towards 
the new bridge over the Lea at Stratford, 
built by Maud, Queen of Henry I., the old 
road having run from Bishopsgate to Old 
Ford. In the oldest documents the name 
is spelt Alegate, then Al, and finally Aid, 
which is no help whatever to the etymology. 
One might make two or three plausible 
guesses, but these would serve little pur- 
pose without evidence. We can only hope 
that the future may throw light upon the 
difficulty. 

Postern Gate, on Tower Hill, although not 
a main gate, demands notice from its 
importance, as indicated by the persistence 
of the name. Until recently its site was 
marked by Postern Eow. 

Billingsgate is believed to be indebted for its 
name to one Belin, a Saxon, evidently of 
some repute, although there is no direct 
evidence respecting him, who settled by 
the old Eoman Watergate. The incga, or 
descendants of himself or of a common 
ancestor were widely spread, having settle- 
ments at Billinge in Lancashire, Billingham 
in Hants and Durham, Billinghurst in 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 101 

Sussex, Billingsley in Shropshire, Billington 
in Bedford, and at some half-dozen other 
places. It is superfluous to add that the 
family is still flourishing in several parts 
of London. In 1558 Billingsgate was 
officially constituted a landing-place for 
provisions; in 1699 it was made "a free 
and open market for all sorts of fish." 
There was a tradition that the phraseology 
of the ladies engaged in business here was 
unpolished, but this is of the past. 
Dowgate. — The etymon is unaccountably lost. 
Stow suggests Down Gate, from the rapid 
descent of the road to the river. This is 
improbable, for the rapid descent could 
hardly have been the chief or a peculiar 
feature of the locality, or the most im- 
portant or striking attribute of the gate. 
The celtic Dwyr, water, appears as a 
component in the names of several of 
our rivers, and offers a plausible and 
appropriate derivation, but there seems to 
be no reason why the Saxons, who named 
or renamed the gates, should have adopted 
a Celtic prefix for this one only, although, 
of course, it is possible. The probability 



102 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

is that it is an inscrutable corruption of, 
or deviation from, the original name, which 
it would now be difficult and inconclusive to 
conjecture, although Dock-Gate is tempting. 
(See St Mary Bqthaw, Appendix I.) 

The city gates and bulwarks were finally 
demolished by Act of Parliament in 1760. 

George Lane, Botolph Lane, is so named from 
the adjacent parish church of St George 
and Botolph. The article on Botolph 
Lane may be referred to. 

George Yard, Lombard Street. — Here, accord- 
ing to Stow, stood a famous hostelry for 
travellers, called The George, said to have 
originally been the London "lodging" of 
the Earl of Ferrers. The Yard was rebuilt 
after the Great Fire, and endowed with the 
name of the ancient inn, which was not 
rebuilt. It will be remembered that here, 
in the George and Vulture Tavern and 
Hotel — " very good, old-fashioned, and com- 
fortable quarters " — Mr Pickwick and Sam 
took up their abode, the better to ascertain 
and study the evil machinations of Dodson 
and Fogg. The George and Vulture Tavern 
was a happy thought as a revival of an 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 103 

old historic name. One can imagine Dickens 
taking a lunch here to test the hostelry 
before locating his hero. 

As regards other Georges, the reader is 
referred to the Preliminary Observations. 

Giltspur Street is stated to be so named from 
the gilded spurs of the knights who rode 
that way to tournament at West Smithfield. 
I think it is open to doubt, or at least 
question, whether so slight a circumstance, 
common to every street through which they 
rode, is the exact or sole derivation ; but 
obviously there was a connection between 
the thoroughfare and the gilded spurs of 
the knights. I am inclined to believe that 
here may have been the emporium for this 
portion of the accoutrement necessary for the 
jousts in the adjacent field of mimic war. 

Glasshouse Yard, Aldersgate. — Here a 
Venetian glass manufacturer founded a 
factory and made an effort to carry on his 
business. It records an irruption of the 
enterprising trading foreigner, to whom, it 
is right to remember, England is much 
indebted for the introduction of arts and 
manufactures. The enterprising predatory 



104 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

foreigner dates from the earliest times — 
many " came over with the Conqueror " — 
and is supplemented in modern days by the 
pauper immigrant. But this by the way. 

Globe Court, Fish Street Hill. — From an 
old sign. A public-house of the same 
sign still exists. 

Godfrey's Court, Milk Street, perpetuates 
the name of a former owner. It is but a 
cul-de-sac, having at the entrance a gate 
and barwork, evidently designed to protect 
the wealth of the court, actual or potential. 
It is not improbable that Michael Godfrey, 
one of the founders of the Bank of England, 
possessed the property. 

Godliman Street. — A name in keeping with 
the ecclesiastical surroundings, but what 
particular godly man (if Godliman is not 
by a curious coincidence the original 
owner's name, which is unascertainable) is 
here immortalised is unknown; undoubtedly 
one under the beneficent influence of the 
adjacent sanctuary, of whom, probably, in 
the words of Goldsmith's " Elegy" — 

"the world might say 
That still a godly race he ran 
"Whene'er he went to pray. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 105 

"A kind and gentle heart he had 
To comfort friends and foes. 
The naked every day he clad 
When he put on his clothes." 

It has been suggested that the name is 
a corruption of Godalming, but there is 
nothing to establish any connection with 
the Surrey town, or with " godalmins," as 
the calf leathers prepared there are called. 

Golden Lane, Barbican, originally Golding 
Lane, from the name of the builder. 

Goldsmiths Street, Wood Street, reminds us 
of the time when this craft held important 
sway in the West Cheap, on the south side 
of which was Goldsmiths Eow, extending 
from Old Change to Bucklersbury. Their 
Hall now stands in the adjacent Foster 
Lane, and Cheapside is still the chief 
locality of the city jewellers. 

Goodman's Fields, Minories, Goodman's Stile, 
Little Alie Street, Goodman's Yard, 
Minories. — Here Farmer Goodman used to 
dispense milk to country ramblers ; and 
prior to his occupation it was the farm of 
the Minoresses. (See Minories.) The 
locality is rich in associations. 

Goring Street, Houndsditch, late Castle 



106 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Street, indicates a modern change from 
a meaningless title to at any rate a rational 
surname, distinctive if obscure. 

Goswell Street is a contraction of Godes "Well, 
or God's Well, one of the old London springs. 

Gracechurch Street "was so named," says 
Stow, "from the parish church of St Benet, 
called Grass Church, of the herb market 
there kept." The name appears at various 
times as Grasschurch Street, Grasse Street, 
Grastreet, and Gracious Street. The pre- 
sent name dates from the rebuilding of the 
church after the Fire. Here was a market 
for not only herbs, but corn, malt, cheese, 
nuts, and kindred produce, and extended 
from the church to Birchin Lane. The Hay- 
market was adjacent. (See Fenchurch 
Street.) 

Gravel Lane, Houndsditch, has now no dis- 
tinctive gravelly features, but taking it in 
conjunction with the adjacent Stoney Lane, 
we can understand the application of the 
name in olden time. 

Gray's Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 

Great Bell Alley, Coleman Street. — So 
called from an old sign. It may be noted 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 107 

that the " Alleys" between Moorgate and 
Coleman Streets are much too good for the 
title. They are worthy at the least of the 
cognomen of " Courts," i.e. short ways from 
one thoroughfare to the other. 

Great St Helen's, originally Great St Helen's 
Court. The little maze surrounding the old 
church has its specific name to distinguish 
it from Little St Helen's, as St Helen's 
Place (ivhich see) was formerly named. 

Great St Thomas Apostle. — A reminiscence 
of the parish church of St Thomas Apostle, 
now non-existent, the parish having been 
united with St Mary Aldermary. The 
church stood in Cloak Lane, across where 
now is Queen Street, and was removed to 
make room for the new thoroughfare. 

Great Swan Alley, Moorgate Street, has 
its origin in an old sign. At the present 
day is a hostelry known as " Ye Old Swan's 
Nest," a pretty ornithological conceit. 

Green Court, Coleman Street, has no dis- 
tinguishing verdure, and we may assuredly 
assign the origin of its name to a builder or 
owner. 

Green Dragon Court, St Andrew's Hill, is 



108 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

indebted for its name to an old sign, and 
the Green Dragon hostelry, still existent, 
testifies to the fact. 

Greenwich Street, Upper Thames Street. 
— The origin of the name is buried in 
obscurity, but undoubtedly we may accept 
the suggestion of Mr Kiley, that its builder, 
and therefore godfather, may have been 
John de Greenwich, an inhabitant of Dow- 
gate in the time of Edward II. The present 
Greenwich Street is but a small area on the 
bank of the river; the past included also 
what is now Friar's Alley. 

Gresham Street does honour to Sir Thomas 
Gresham, the munificent founder of the 
Eoyal Exchange in 1563; a mercer and a 
loyal citizen, who desired that his city 
should possess a building rivalling the 
Bourses of Antwerp and Vienna. His 
whole life is interesting and instructive, 
calculated to stimulate youth, if one could 
only induce the youth of the present day 
to learn more of the lives of London's 
worthies, who made our city what it is. 

Greyfriars, or Christ's Hospital. — The Grey 
Friars were the Franciscans. The cloister 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 109 

and buttery of the present building are all 
that remains of the original. (See Black- 
friars for notes upon the Friars in general.) 

Grocers' Hall Court marks the entrance to 
the sacred precincts of the Hall of the 
Grocers' Company. It was formerly Cony- 
hoop Lane, indicating its connection with 
the poultry market. 

It should be borne in mind that grocers, 
or " grossers " of the olden time, were traders 
of considerable importance. They were 
merchants en gros, or wholesale, as the 
name indicates. Their earlier English title 
was " Pepperers," of Italian, Genoese, 
Florentine, or Venetian nationality. They 
supplied the spices and drugs of India and 
Araby, the wine and fruits of Italy, to all 
Europe. Kings, princes, dukes, and others 
of the nobility have, according to its 
records, been enrolled in this illustrious 
Company. 

Gun Square, Houndsditch, should be rather 
Gun's Square, the only surviving memento 
of an obscure individual, probably the 
owner of the property. 

Gun Street, Spitalfields. — A portion of the 



110 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

ground of the old London Artillery Com- 
pany. Fort Street is cognate. 
Gutter Lane commemorates the residence of 
Guthrun or Gutheron, a Danish burgher, 
sometime owner thereof. The name has 
passed through the transition stages of 
Guthrun, Gutheron, Goderan, and Gutter, 
as attested by old documents. 



H 

Hammet Street, Minories, bears the name of 
a former owner of the property. Sir 
Benjamin Hammet was Sheriff in 1788, and 
was probably a city freeholder. 

Hand-and-Pen Court, Leadenhall Street, is 
very nearly built out of existence. Indeed, 
it now exists only upon sufferance, as a 
kind of back entrance to magnificent offices 
in Fenchurch Street. The Hand-and-Pen 
Tavern, which acted as godfather, is buried 
in the profoundest obscurity, and I observe 
that the very name of the court has been 
removed, as though there were reason to be 
ashamed of its origin. It is situated next 
to number sixty-one. There was in olden 
time a Hand-and-Pen Court on Tower Hill. 

Hare Court, Aldersgate Street. — A reminis- 



112 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

cence of a shop sign, which appears to 
have had reference to the name of the pro- 
prietor, Nicholas Warren, who should have 
considered that a rabbit would have been 
more appropriate. Maybe the sign-painter 
was at fault. 
Harp Lane, Lower Thames Street, is men- 
tioned by Stow as Hart Lane, and probably 
owed its name to Sir John Hart, Lord 
Mayor in 1589, to whom Hart Street, 
Crutched Friars, is likewise indebted. 
Hart Street, Crutched Friars. (See Harp 
Lane.) Sir John was probably a freeholder 
in these localities. 
Hart Street, Wood Street. — Probably also 

commemorates Sir John. 
Hartshorn Alley, Leadenhall Street. — I 
am sorry to say I am unable to find any 
information as to the origin of this name. 
There was a Hartshorne of Aldersgate, 
"Servant to the King, 1400," but I cannot 
ascertain that he possessed property in 
Aldgate. Again, Northumberland House, 
which was the town residence of the Earls 
of Northumberland, and has left its name 
to the adjacent Northumberland Alley in 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 113 

Fenchureh Street, was previously the house of 
the Prior of Horn Church in Essex, which may 
perhaps afford an explanation of the second 
syllable. Whether the first can be assigned 
to the neighbouring Hart Street by any 
ingenuity of connection is problematical. 
There appears to be no association with 
the ammonia of commerce. It is a curious 
fact, but nothing more I think than a 
coincidence, that there was a Hartshorne 
Lane at Charing Cross until 1760, when 
it was demolished, and Northumberland 
Street built in its stead. Here, in the 
east, we have a Hartshorn Alley and 
Northumberland Alley almost in contiguity. 

Hatchet Court, Trinity Lane, Thames Street, 
is of an ancient sign, still existent in the 
guardian tavern at one entrance of the 
maze, which has another in Garlick Hill, 
under the name of Sugarloaf Court, where 
stands the Crown and Sugarloaf as the 
guardian there. There is also another 
entrance from Thames Street. 

Hatton Court, Threadneedle Street, is 
indebted for its name to that of a past 
owner of the property, not improbably the 



114 LONDON STEEET NAMES. 

famous Sir Christopher of Hatton Garden 
memory, or one of the family. 
Hatton Garden is a memento of the illustrious 
Sir Christopher Hatton, Elizabeth's Chan- 
cellor. In connection with Sir Christopher 
may be mentioned his marriage with a 
beautiful gipsy girl, who bewitched him by 
compact with the Evil One. This gentle- 
man's price was the girl's body and soul 
after a stipulated time. At the expiration 
thereof the Evil One seized her, carried her 
into mid-air, tore out her heart and cast it 
to the ground. The spot upon which it 
fell was named Bleeding Heart Yard, so 
who can doubt the legend ? And yet those 
incredulous sceptics, who destroy our beau- 
tiful legends one by one, seek to explain 
the name by the assertion that it was 
originally Bleeding Hart Yard, a forgotten 
sign or family cognizance, and I am in- 
clined to think they are right. 

Haydon Square, Minories, serves to record the 
past existence of Alderman John Heydon, 
the ground landlord in 1582. 

Helmet Court, Wormwood Street. — One of a 
half-dozen which formerly existed in the 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 115 

city. An old sign, which probably origin- 
ated during the knightly era. 

Heneage Lane, Bevis Marks. — Upon the disso- 
lution of the monasteries, the Abbey House 
of the fraternity here located (see Bevis 
Marks) was acquired by Sir Thomas 
Heneage, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan- 
caster, 1595, whose name is thus pre- 
served. 

Hercules Passage, Threadneedle Street. — 
From an old sign. It has no herculean 
characteristic. On the contrary, it is rather 
small and mean. 

Hermitage Street, Wapping. — The site of the 
Hermitage, a brewhouse, which owed its 
name to a hermit residing on the spot before 
the brewhouse was built. He was pre- 
sumably a man of some note, but nothing 
now appears to be known respecting him. 

Herring Court, Eedcross Street. — One might 
have supposed this to be a surname, had 
not the original been Three Herring Court, 
which declares it to have been an old sign, 
the badge of the Herring family. 

High Timber Street, Upper Thames Street. — 
An ingenious transposition and mutation of 



116 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Timber Hithe, its original name, being the 
hythe, or landing-place, for timber. 
Holborn was originally the continuation of 
Waiting Street after its exit from the city 
through the West (afterwards the New) 
Gate. The name of Holborn was subse- 
quently imposed by reason of its being the 
highway from Holborn Bridge, which, just 
outside the New Gate, spanned the Hole 
Bourne in that part of its course where it 
was about to change its name to the Eiver 
Fleet. 

From the time of Stow until, one may 
say, a comparatively recent period, the 
Hole Bourne, or Old Bourne, as it was 
sometimes indecisively named, was sup- 
posed to have taken its rise somewhere 
about the spot now known as Holborn Bars, 
and to have flowed down as a tributary to 
the Fleet. But it is at length conclusively 
proved that the name was applied to the 
upper reaches of the Fleet itself, where it 
ran its course in the hollows amidst the 
high ground of the north, thus being the 
bourne in the hollow, whence Hollow or 
Hole Bourne. An early village bearing the 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 117 

name studded the bank of the brook, and 
gradually extended itself westward. It 
had the honour of being mentioned in the 
Conqueror's Survey. 

Holborn Bars, a little west of Brooke Street, 
indicated the limit of the city liberties 
westward. (See Bars.) 

Holiday Yard, Creed Lane, is, I believe, a 
surname, probably that of a former owner, 
and has no reference to the gambols of 
young or old citizens bent on recreation. 

Holywell Lane and Eow, Shoreditch, com- 
memorate the site of a Priory of Nuns of 
St John the Baptist, built near one of 
London's many wells ; " sweet, wholesome, 
and clear" in Stow's time, but not so for 
long after. 

Holywell Street, Strand, received its name 
from the holy well of St Clement's, to whom 
the adjacent church was dedicated. (See 
Wych Steeet.) 

Honey Lane, Cheapside, perpetuates the 
memory of the market. The market-house 
occupied the centre of the area, until 
recently the site of the City of London 
School, now devoted to commercial and 



118 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

mercantile offices. The consumption of 
honey was probably considerable when the 
importation of sugar was small. Stow is 
careful to inform us that the lane was so 
called, " not of sweetness thereof, being 
very narrow and somewhat dark, but rather 
of often washing and sweeping to keep it 
clean/' which is somewhat contradictory. 
The fact of its connection with the principal 
emporium of honey seems to have escaped 
his usually alert observation. 

Hooper's Court, Nicholas Lane, presumably 
records the name of the builder or original 
owner. The occupiers are for the most 
part devoted to the advancement of finan- 
cial projects, and the interpretation of the 
" T. N. S. " over the entrance is obviously 
" Try New Shares," or a disinterested and 
friendly recommendation to " Trust No 
Syndicate." 

Horseshoe Court, Ludgate Hill. — The horse- 
shoe once gave name to about a dozen of our 
courts and alleys. This before us survives 
as one of the most dilapidated little entries, 
immediately adjacent to a noble thorough- 
fare, that our city can be ashamed of. We 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 119 

wind round it into Boy Court, and thence 
by Benson's Chambers we emerge again into 
the civilisation of Ludgate Hill. Horse- 
shoes form the charge borne in the arms of 
Ferrers, Earls of Derby. 

Hosier Lane, Smithfield. — The earlier seat of 
the hosiery trade, afterwards removed to 
Hosier Lane, Cheapside, which formed the 
northern half of what is now Bow Lane, 
the southern being Cordwainer Street, the 
residence of the shoemakers and curriers. 

Houndsditch. — The ditch, which was outside 
this part of the city wall, probably derived 
its name from the refuse deposited in it, of 
the animal component of which dead dogs 
appear to have formed a predominant, or, at 
any rate, a most impressive proportion. It 
has been suggested that its name may be 
due to the practice of letting dogs swim or 
bathe there ; but it appears to have always 
had an unpleasant reputation. Stow speaks 
of it as "full of dead dogs" — an obvious 
exaggeration. It was no doubt filthy; so 
much so that in his day — a time of no par- 
ticular regard for sanitary arrangements — it 
was deemed necessary to cover it over. 



120 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Howard Street, Strand. — A reminiscence of 
the Howard family, former residents in the 
locality. 

Huggins Lane, Wood Street, and Queen 
Victoria Street. — According to Stow, 
Hugan was a citizen of the time of 
Edward I., and was apparently a man of 
some repute, having given name to two 
thoroughfares. But the eminent anti- 
quarian, Mr H. B. Wheatley, is inclined to 
think that both are a euphemistic rendering 
of Hog's Lane, since they were spoken of 
as Hoggenelane in 1281. I prefer Stow's 
explanation, as Hoggene is as likely to be a 
form of Hugan as the plural of hog, and 
the circumstances are more probable. 



Idol Lane, Tower Stbeet, is a corruption of 
Idle Lane, as it was written in Stow's time, 
and is supposed to have had reference to the 
comparative absence of business, and the 
loitering of unemployed, persons in the 
thoroughfare. This derivation is not alto- 
gether satisfactory and conclusive to the 
enquiring mind, but no better can at present 
be found. 

A cognate name, ascribed by Stow to the 
circumstance that the place was not in- 
habited by artificers or open shopkeepers 
(evidently to him the embodiment of real 
industry) was that of Dolittle Lane, in Old 
Fish Street, no longer existing ; although 
some conjecture this was derived from the 
quondam rector of St Alphage of that name, 



122 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

who, ejected from his living, here set up a 
Presbyterian church. 

Ingram Court, Fenchurch Street, marks the 
site of the residence of Sir Thomas Ingram, 
merchant, who contributed to the financial 
welfare of St Dionis Backchurch, which 
stood by Lime Street, and contained a 
monument to his memory. 

Inns of Court, although not strictly streets of 
London, and somewhat beyond the boun- 
daries of the city, may be regarded as 
thoroughfares (as indeed they are), and are 
sufficiently interesting to be worthy of a 
place amongst our names. As Mr Pickwick 
remarked (chap, xx.) : " Curious little nooks 
in a great place, like London, these old Inns 
are." 

Originally Inn signified a large private 
house or dwelling (O.E. inn = a, house, 
chamber, or dwelling), and was so applied 
to the residences of several of the nobility. 
Subsequently its meaning was extended to 
a house of call or entertainment for travellers, 
and to a college for students of law, or 
to a legal colony — the fundamental idea 
seeming to be a place of welcome for a 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 123 

common object. The original meaning is 
now quite superseded. 

As regards the history and development 
of the Inns of Court, the reader who desires 
full information is referred to Mr Loftie's 
excellent work on the subject. 

Barnard's Inn, formerly Mackworth's Inn, a 
private residence, founded by Dr John 
Mackworth. Barnard was a subsequent 
occupier, when it became an Inn of 
Chancery. 

Clement's Inn is so named from Clement's 
Well. Its foundation is buried in ob- 
scurity, but it is known that students of 
the law had rooms here in 1480. It was 
at one time possessed by the Earl of 
Clare, who left his name to various parts 
of the adjacent district. The Inn build- 
ings have recently undergone considerable 
change, and the transformation is not yet 
completed. St Clement was Bishop of 
Eome, a disciple of St Peter. 

Cliffords Inn. — The mansion of Eobert de 
Clifford, to whom it was granted by 
Edward II., at an annual quit- rent of one 
penny. In 1345 Clifford's widow devised 



124 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

it to certain students of the law. It is 
the oldest Inn in Chancery. 

FurnivaVs Inn occupies the site of the town 
residence of the Furnival family ; built by 
Sir William in 1388. Members of the 
family were companions of Eichard I. in 
Palestine. The Inn is famous for many 
historical connections ; most famous to the 
modern mind as the residence of Charles 
Dickens and the birthplace of Pickwick. 

Grays Inn is a memento of Baron Gray of 
"Wilton, by whom it was built. It was 
devised to students of the law in the reign 
of Edward III. 

Lincoln's Inn derives its name from Henry 
Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who built it as a 
town residence. It was conveyed to the 
Benchers in 1579. 

New Inn was founded about the year 1485, 
and was originally situated at the junction 
of Seacoal Lane and Fleet Lane. It re- 
ceived the name of New when transferred 
to its present site. 

Staple Inn was originally an hostelry for 
merchants of the wool staple (O.E. stapel 
== a heap, hence a depot where goods 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 125 

were accumulated and shown for sale ; 
then, by transfer of meaning, not uncom- 
mon in the growth of languages, the goods 
themselves as a chief commodity). In the 
fourteenth century wool was the principal 
or staple article of English production, 
and regulations were made with respect to 
its exportation. The history of staplers, 
as connected with the development of our 
commerce, is replete with interest. 
The Temple recalls to mind the Knights of 
the Temple of Jerusalem, the famous 
military Order, a combination of knights 
and monks, owing its origin to the 
Crusades, whose second and final abode 
in London was here. The first was in 
Holborn, at the north-east corner of 
Chancery Lane, from 1118 to 1184, in 
which latter year they removed their 
quarters hither, to what was long known 
as the New Temple. The church is 
modelled on that of the Holy Sepulchre, 
but the circular portion is the only 
ancient part remaining. The Templars 
were suppressed in the reign of Edward 
III., who gave their estate to his cousin 



126 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the Earl of Pembroke, from whom it 
passed to the Earl of Lancaster ; from 
him it reverted to the Crown, and thence 
went to the Knights of St John at Clerk- 
enwell, who leased the greater portion to 
the students of common law, with whom 
it remains to this day. The full history 
of the Templars, which is exceedingly 
interesting, must be sought elsewhere. 
Thavies Inn was so named as being the hos- 
pitium of John Thavie, an armourer 
of Edward III. By him it was demised 
to students of the law, who, however, had 
taken up their quarters therein, with his 
permission, during his lifetime. 

Ireland Yard, Blackfriars, has a literary 
interest associated with its name, inasmuch 
as William Ireland, the owner of a house 
therein, whence the title of the Yard, con- 
veyed his property to Shakespeare, and the 
deed of conveyance is to this day preserved 
in the Corporation Library. 

Ironmonger Lane, the early seat of the hard- 
ware trade — the members of which " for the 
better furtherance of their business," re- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 127 

moved to Thames Street, where they may 
still be found in considerable numbers. 
Ivy Lane, Paternoster Eow, carries us far back 
to the time when ivy grew in notable pro- 
fusion on the walls of the prebendal houses 
which stood in this then avenue. 



J 



Jeffrey's Square, St Mary Axe. — A compara- 
tively modern name, no doubt that of the 
builder or owner ; to him probably a clarum 
et venerdbile nomen, worthy of being handed 
down to posterity. 

Jewin Street and Crescent mark a settlement 
of the Jews. Here was the only spot in 
London where this race had the right of 
burial, until the reign of Henry II., when 
they obtained permission to purchase ground 
for sepulture elsewhere. It is spoken of in 
ancient deeds as " The Jews' Garden." 

As in Jewry the terminal ry has a 
collective signification, so in Jewin the 
terminal in is a modification of the plural 
en, seen in oxen, hosen, brethren, etc. 
(O.E. an.) 

Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, is worthy of 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 129 

notice as not being named after the great 
lexicographer. It was the residence of a 
Mr Johnson, whose services to mankind are 
apparently otherwise unrecorded. He was 
probably the owner. 
Joiners' Hall Buildings, Thames Street. — A 
reminiscence of the — shall we say more 
prosperous ? — times when the Joiners' Com- 
pany possessed a hall, here situate. Now 
the Company is one of those which dispense 
with a hall. Of the old building nothing is 
left but the gateway, surmounted by two 
savage-looking, half-naked individuals, ap- 
parently a copy of the crest of the Company's 
arms ; but what connection such truculent 
personages have, or had, with a decently 
clothed and peaceable fraternity it is not 
easy to conjecture. 



K 



King Street, Cheapside. — Complementary to 
Queen Street, enlarged and renamed after the 
Fire. I am sorry there is no better reason 
for the name, but we must give the nomen- 
clators credit at least for their loyalty. 

King Edward Street, Newgate, was formerly 
Stinking Lane (afterwards Butcherhall Lane, 
Newgate Street being then known as the 
Shambles), as a mild and humorous protest 
against the nauseous odours of the adjacent 
meat market. Its present revised name is 
in honour of the founder of the Christ's 
Hospital School, Edward VI. The Grey 
Friars' Church was given to the city by his 
father, Henry VIII. Edward confirmed and 
developed the gift, and heartily entered with 
Eidley into the scheme of utilising the place 
to the utmost for the benefit of the poor and 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 131 

the cause of education. Thus the name of 
the street is right worthily bestowed. 

King William Street is in commemoration of 
the opening of the present London Bridge 
by King William IY. in 1831. Here, there 
is reason for the regal nomenclature. (See 
Note on London Bridge.) 

King's Arms Yard, Moorgate Steet. — From an 
old sign, probably the outcome of loyalty to 
Charles II. The term "yard" appears to 
indicate an enclosure, which probably existed 
before the thoroughfare was made. 

King's Head Court, Fish Street Hill, was the 
site of an old tavern bearing the sign of the 
King's Head, spoken of by " rare old " Ben 
Jonson. [To suppress the epithet would be 
unorthodox.] The court has certainly a most 
uninviting and unregal entrance, but is in- 
teresting as a souvenir of the past. 

King's Head Court. Others, Several. — 
There once existed somewhere about a score 
and a ha]f of courts named after this popular 
sign, which doubtless had reference to the 
head of Charles I., which we know, upon Mr 
Dick's unassailable testimony, was always 
of an obtrusive nature. 



132 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Knightrider Street. — Stated to be a thorough- 
fare much used by the knights of old rid- 
ing to the tournaments at West Smithfleld. 
They were accustomed to assemble here for 
inspection by their standard-bearer, whose 
appointment was attached to the soke which 
comprised this south-west corner of the city. 
As standard-bearers the Fitz Walters long 
held Baynard's Castle, where they possessed 
a "liberty," or exemption from ordinary 
jurisdiction. The office was one of some im- 
portance. In the old ages of chivalry, which 
has now assumed other and less horsey 
forms, the spurs of knights (equites aurati) 
were of gold, or at least gilded {see Gilt- 
spur Street), whilst those of their squires 
were of silver or its counterfeit presentment. 
But now — 

. " The knights are dust, 

And their good swords are rust. 

Their souls are with the saints, we trust." 

COLERIDGEt 



L 



Lambeth Hill, Thames Street. — Stow tells us 
how one Lambert, of whom nothing more 
appears to be known, was the owner of 
property on this site. 

Langbourne. — The Lang or Long Bourne was so 
called, says Stow, " of the length thereof," 
although to our minds this was not a striking 
characteristic. Prior to the fourteenth cen- 
tury, it is spoken of as the Langford. Taking 
its rise somewhere about the upper part of 
Mark Lane, or perhaps even a little more 
north, it ran swiftly westward across Grace- 
church Street, and between King William 
Street and Lombard Street, past Sherborne 
Lane, where it gave off the Shere, or divided, 
Bourne (which see), and thence into the 
Wall Brook, at about the spot now occupied 
by the Mansion House. From its overflowing 



134 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

in the first part of its course, being "a great 
stream breaking out of the ground," as Stow 
says, the district was known also as Fennie- 
about, whence the name of Fenchurch Street 
{which see). There is now no memorial of 
the notable brook but Langbourne Chambers 
in Fenchurch Street. It is regrettable that it 
has not shared equal honours with the Fleet, 
the Wall Brook, and the Shere Bourne, which 
still survive in our city street names. 

Lawrence Lane, Cheapside. — A well-merited 
memento of Sir John Lawrence, Lord Mayor 
in 1665, the year of the Plague. He much 
distinguished himself by his energy and 
resources, courage and liberality, in the 
trying circumstances. He may be read of 
in Darwin's "Loves of the Plants," — a 
volume, I suppose, few but specialists look 
at nowadays — where he is spoken of as 
" London's generous Mayor." 

Lawrence Pountney Lane and Hill. — Formerly 
Lawrence Poulteney. Sir John Poulteney 
(the I in whose name has, for some reason, 
probably a mistaken idea of euphony, been 
displaced by n in the modern naming of 
the locality) was one of London's worthiest 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 135 

and most munificent citizens — a draper, and 
four times Mayor. In 1337 he built a fair 
chapel in St Paul's Church, wherein he was 
in due time buried. He founded a college 
in the parish church of St Lawrence, called 
Poulteney. He built the parish church of 
Little Allhallows, and the Carmelite Friars 
Church in Coventry. He gave relief to 
prisoners in Newgate and in the Fleet ; ten 
shillings a year to St Giles' Hospital by Old- 
borne for ever ; and other legacies, too long 
to rehearse ; all of which is related by Stow. 
The burial-ground of St Lawrence still exists, 
an interesting survival of the past, and a 
spot admirably adapted for the exercise of 
a meditative spirit. It is not unpleasing, 
but perhaps a little melancholy, to gaze 
upon these disused city churchyards, and 
try to conjure up scenes of the past, when 
loved ones were being consigned to their 
last earthly resting-place by those who have 
in their turn long since trodden the Valley 
of the Shadow. 
Laystall Street, Clerkenwell, I notice, is 
a memento of the unsavoury custom which 
long existed in old London of placing refuse in 



136 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

certain open spaces, called " lay-stalls," until 
the nuisance became so intolerable that active 
measures had to be taken to put an end to it. 
Leadenhall Street. — Formerly a continuation 
in name of Cornhill, until the erection of 
Sir Hugh Neville's mansion in 1309, on the 
site of the present market. One of the chief 
characteristics of the building was the roof 
of lead, whence it was known as the Leaden 
Hall, and ultimately gave its name to the 
thoroughfare in which it was situated. It 
was successively owned and inhabited from 
time to time by members of the nobility 
and many illustrious citizens. In 1443 it 
was determined to erect a granary on the 
site "for the people's greater advantage," 
and for this purpose the area was much 
extended, since it dawned, or was forced 
upon, the municipal mind that " the garner- 
ing of wheat had been hitherto much 
neglected." It afterwards became a market 
for meat and fish ; then for raw hides, and 
for wool and herbs. In 1814 it was specially 
a leather market. It subsequently reverted 
to hides and meat, and is now, as we know, 
a general provision market. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 137 

Leather Lane, Holborn, is spoken of by Stow- 
as Lither Lane, which name was apparently- 
derived from the owner, who in Stow's day 
" had lately replenished it with houses 
built." 

Lilypot Lane, Noble Street. — From an old 
tavern sign. An heraldic charge, being a 
lily-shaped ornamental cup, with a circular 
pedestal and base. 

Lime Street. — The locality of the lime-burners 
— an objectionable pursuit. It is probable, 
however, that the obnoxious article was 
only sold, not burned, here. 

Lincoln's Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 

Little Britain, originally Bretagne or Britain 
Street, indicates the locality in which the 
Dukes of Bretagne took up their abode. 
Little Britain, in its palmy days, was a 
famous emporium for antique and black- 
letter books — a happy hunting-ground for 
virtuosi and curiosi. Washington Irving 
has written a great deal of gossipy medita- 
tion upon its glories, past and present. 

Lombard Street, — The quarter wherein the 
money-lenders from Lombardy settled. 
The Lombards were an eminently commer- 



138 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

cial and financial people, and competed 
with the Jews in the Middle Ages as capi- 
talists and pawnbrokers. They judiciously 
located themselves between the two trading 
quarters of the West and East Cheaps. 
There is an etymological interest in the fact 
that the unredeemed pledges deposited in 
the Lombards' store-rooms gave rise to the 
word " lumber," applied to the pledges, as old 
and useless. Then the application was 
extended to stored furniture in general ; 
thence to anything of a heavy and cumbrous 
nature as lumbering, or to any accumulation 
of old and awkward articles. More recently, 
heavy American timber has acquired the 
specific name of lumber. Thus the word is 
yet developing. 
London. — The name of our city has existed with 
comparatively little change from its first 
bestowal by the Britons, who, choosing the 
highest easternmost ground on the northern 
river bank, on the west of what was after- 
wards the Wall Brook, founded the little 
settlement of Llyn-din, " the lake fortress," 
aptly named from its position amid the 
swamps — with the river flowing, or rather 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 139 

overflowing, on its south, the estuary of the 
Fleet on the west, marshes on the east, and 
fens on the north, with the Middlesex woods 
in the distance. It is worth while to note 
that a legend, now no longer entertained by 
antiquaries, told how the original name was 
Lluan-din, " the fortress of the moon " ; that 
a temple devoted to the worship of that 
luminary was built on the high ground on 
which St Paul's now stands ; and that on 
this site the Eomans, always agreeable for 
political reasons to respect the religious pre- 
judices of those they subjugated, erected 
a nobler temple to the same deity, under 
the title of Diana. There is nothing, how- 
ever, to support the legend. Wren found 
no remains which would afford the least 
confirmation, although he penetrated to a 
depth of forty feet for his foundations. It 
has therefore been dismissed, to share the 
fate of many another legend which cannot 
bear the fierce light of this sceptical and 
prosaic age. Actually, or legendarily, the 
site of St Paul's has been that of a British 
fortress, a Eoman camp, a burial-ground of 
successive occupiers of the city, a heathen 



140 LONDOtf STREET If AMES. 

temple, a Christian fane, and lastly a metro- 
politan cathedral, for an account of which 
Dean Milman's " Annals of St Paul's " should 
be consulted. 

Tacitus, first of Eoman historians, wrote 
of the settlement as Londinium, a Konian- 
ised form of Llyn-din, and the name has 
appeared in the various guises of Lundinum, 
Longidinum, Lundayne, Lundonia, Lun- 
done, Lundenceaster, Lundenbyrig, Lun- 
denwic, all tending to the final form of 
London, whereof, as Stow says, " You may 
read a more large and learned discourse in 
that work of my loving friend, Master 
Camden, which is called Britannia, " of 
which privilege no one, I suppose, but those 
engaged in pure antiquarian research would 
desire to avail himself. Cassar speaks of it 
as " Ci vitas Trinobantum," a name based 
on the tradition of its having been founded 
by Brut, the son of iEneas, who called it 
New Troy, Troy Nova, whence Trinoban- 
tum. At one period the Eoman settlers 
would fain have changed the name to 
Augusta, or Londinium Augusta ; and from 
369 to 412 it was so called. (One Eoman 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 141 

chronicler mentions " Londinium vetus op- 
pidum, quod Augustam posteritas adpel- 
lavit.") Some say from Helena Augusta, 
the mother of Constantine the Great, who 
had lived many years in Britain ; others 
as being the quarters of the Second or 
Augustan Legion ; others again, with the 
most probability, as being the capital of a 
province, since we find the name used as an 
affix in the names of seventy other Eoman 
colonial cities ; but the fundamental British 
name proved the stronger, and speedily 
reasserting itself, has continued to the 
present day. 

The earliest limits of the city, as deter- 
mined by the Romans, were, on the north, 
what are now Cornhill and Leadenhall 
Street ; on the east, Billiter Street and 
Mark Lane ; on the west, the east side of 
the Wall Brook ; and on the south, the river 
Thames. The borders were much enlarged 
when the erection of the London Wall was 
found to be necessary ; and its growth 
became most rapid under the influence of 
the civilising Norman. 
London Bridge. — The great southern highway 



142 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

to and from our city. There is some doubt 
as to when the first bridge was built, but 
there appears to be sufficient evidence to 
ascribe it to the Eoman period, crossing 
from about where St Olave's, Tooley Street, 
now stands, to Botolph Gate. (See Botolph 
Lane.) We may concur with good old Stow 
that the antiquity of the first bridge was 
great, if a little uncertain. A bridge is 
mentioned as existing in 994. This, being 
of wood, was patched, repaired, and some- 
times nearly wholly reconstructed, until a 
stone one was built by Peter, Chaplain of St 
Mary Colechurch, a gifted engineer and 
architect, in 1176-1209, abutting on St 
Magnus Church ; and the appreciation of 
his fellow-citizens was shown by their en- 
tombing him in one of the buttresses, 
wherein he had placed a small chapel, dedi- 
cated to St Thomas of Canterburj 7 . They 
thus anticipated Wren's epitaph : " Si monu- 
mentum quseris, circumspice." The pre- 
sent bridge was built 1824-1831, in which 
latter year it was opened by King William 
IV., after whom the approach on the north 
side is aptly named King William Street. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 143 

Whether it will be upon a broken arch of 
this bridge, or of one of its successors yet 
to be built, that the oft-quoted Macaulay's 
New Zealander will sit to sketch (from one 
of the least favourable points of view) the 
ruins of St Paul's, one cannot say ; but one 
may doubt if the fantastic idea will ever be 
realised at all. 
London House Yaed, St Paul's, is the site of 
the palace of the See of London. The 
official town residence of the Bishop is now 
in St James's Square. Why ? Who knows ? 
London Street, Fenchurch Street. — This 
name is a memento of John London, who 
was warden of the Ironmongers' Company 
in 1724, and, presumably, he or they were 
the landowners. 
London Wall. — This and Walbrook are the sole 
nominal reminiscences of the wall which 
surrounded our city in its early days. This 
famous structure, which has not even yet 
totally disappeared (for may not portions 
be inspected by our very own eyes at St 
Giles' Cripplegate, at George Street on 
Tower Hill, and in the remnant of the 
churchyard of St Alphage ?), was built by 



144 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Governor Theodosius in the year 306. It 
was two miles and a fifth in length ; twenty 
feet in height ; ten feet thick ; had fifteen 
gates (when all were constructed), including 
posterns ; forty towers, twenty -five feet 
high ; and the external ditch, afterwards 
known as Houndsditch, two hundred feet 
feet wide. Its line was from where St 
Paul's Eailway Station now stands to a 
little eastward of the south end of the Old 
Bailey ; northward, still eastward of Old 
Bailey, to St Sepulchre's Church ; thence 
north - east behind Christ's Hospital to 
Aldersgate Street ; across to the north side 
of Falcon Square ; then north to Cripple- 
gate Church ; along London Wall and 
Wormwood Street to near Bishopsgate 
Church ; thence by Camomile Street south- 
east to Aldgate ; along the Minories to the 
river at the eastern extremity of the Tower, 
and thence by the river's side to our point 
of departure. A perspicuous diagram of 
the course of the wall may be found in the 
introductory chapter of Cassell's " Old and 
New London." It was frequently repaired 
or improved by both public enterprise and 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 145 

private munificence, of which Stow gives 
a detailed account. 

Long Lane, Smithfield. — " A lane," says Stow, 
4 'truly called long, reaching from Smith- 
field to Aldersgate Street." In the days 
of our good old antiquary it had been 
" lately built on both sides with tenements 
for brokers, tipplers, and such like." Why 
these should be classed together, and require 
special domiciles, is incomprehensible to the 
modern mind. The length, however, seems 
to have been impressive. 

Lothbury was in Stow's time (circa 1600) the 
quarter devoted to workers in brass and 
copper, pewterers and makers of candle- 
sticks, chafing-dishes, spice-mortars, and 
"such like copper or latten work" (latten 
was a mixture of copper and brass), and 
from the noise occasioning loathing in 
passers-by, he derives the first portion of 
the name, which, like most specious etymo- 
logical conjectures, is incorrect. The origin 
of the name is somewhat obscure, but it is 
not that. With great probability it is 
assigned to the fact that one Albert, a 
Lotharingian, or Albert Lotering, held a 

K 



146 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

manor here ; hence Lotering's, or abbre- 
viatedly, Loth's Bury. (For Bury, see 

BuCKLERSBURY.) 

Love Lane, Eastcheap. — In olden time Eoper 
Lane, and afterwards Lucas Lane, names 
derived from the successive owners of the 
property. In Stow's time (circa 1600) the 
name of Love Lane, the origin of which is 
not known, had superseded that of Lucas. 
The later name may have been bestowed as 
better befitting the amorous disposition of 
the residents, but it would have been wiser 
to retain even an obscure owner's name 
than to adopt the present meaningless one. 
It is barely probable that Lucas can have 
become transformed into Love. 

Love Lane, Wood Street. — Stow's opinion is 
that the name in this case originated from 
the street being infested by wantons. To 
my mind such an origin is improbable, almost 
incredible, under the very shadow of the 
church, for which (i.e. for the building per 
se) in those times there was more reverence 
than even in these latter days. Some other 
less objectionable circumstance must be 
sought for the naming of the Love Lanes 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 147 

in Wood Street and the outlying districts of 
Shadwell, Southwark, and Bow. I would rather 
refer them to the name, or even caprice, of 
the builders or owners, or perhaps to the 
retirement (which at an undeveloped period 
of London's history those lanes enjoyed), 
rendering them suitable as trysting-places 
for the young men and maidens of the 
period, or to some topographical circum- 
stance of loveliness, no longer existing ; but 
in this latter case the appellation would 
probably have been Lovely Lane. 

Lovell's Court, Paternoster Eow, marks the 
site of a mansion belonging to the Earls of 
Bretagne, which subsequently became the 
property of the Lovell family, who made it 
their town residence. 

Ludgate Hill. — Formerly Bowyer Eow, of 
Bowyers dwelling there in olden time, now 
worn out (says Stow in his quaint, playful 
manner) by mercers and others. "Worn 
out " probably means supplanted. (See 
Gates as regards the etymon of Lud.) 



M 

Maiden Lane, Queen Street, Cheapside, sug- 
gests our much admired and somewhat 
overlauded " Good Queen Bess," by some 
irreverently called "the capricious vixen" ; 
but I am inclined to think, failing any 
authentic information as to the origin of 
the name, that this may be regarded as a 
midden (O.E. middan), or Midway Lane. 
Its position between Garlick Hill and 
College Hill favours this view, especially as 
Queen Street derived its name, long after 
the demise of the maiden queen, from 
Charles's consort. Taylor notes, in his 
" Names and Places," that Maidenhead on 
the Thames was originally Maydenhithe, 
or the midway landing-place between Mar- 
low and Windsor. 

Maidenhead Court, Aldersgate Street. — A 
once not uncommon name in the city. It 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 149 

may indicate property belonging, now or in 
the past, to the Mercers' Company, whose 
escutcheon is a maiden's head. A maiden's 
head was also the heraldic badge of Cather- 
ine Parr — the head rising from a Tudor 
rose. It may, however, be safer to attri- 
bute the name of the court to an old tavern 
sign. (See also above.) 

Mark Lane, originally Mart Lane, was so 
named from the fair or market or mart 
which the manor of Blanch Appleton (a 
name afterwards converted into Blind 
Chapelton, teste Blind Chapel Court which 
once existed here), situated at the north- 
east corner of the lane, the property of a 
knight, had the privilege of holding in the 
reign of Eichard II. This manor appears 
to have been permitted to be used as a 
place of assembly for traders not possessing 
the freedom of the city, for in the time of 
Edward IV. foreigners were allowed to 
dwell and trade here without control of 
the municipal authorities. 

Market Street, Clerkenwell, is a memento 
of the Skin Market, the actual site of which 
is now occupied by Percival Street. 



150 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Martin's Lane, Cannon Street. — Originally St 
Martin Orgar Lane, from the parish church, 
which still remains. St Martin was the 
patron saint of saddlers, whose first hall 
was contiguous to St Martin-le-Grand 
College. Ordgar, or Ordgarus, was a land- 
owner, and founder of the church, which he 
presented to the canons of St Paul's. Orgar 
le Prude was a member of the Knighten 
Guild, a fraternity of some note, which left 
its name in Nightingale Lane, Wapping 
(which see). 

Mason's Avenue, Coleman Street, owes its 
name to the circumstance of the Masons' 
Company's Hall being situated therein. 
This Company is of considerable antiquity. 
It was instituted in the early part of the 
fifteenth century ; its arms were granted in 
1474 ; and letters patent of incorporation 
in 1677 ; but it has outlived its hall, and 
now has none. The discarded building 
fulfils the congenial functions of an hotel 
and tavern. 

Meeting-House Court, Miles' Lane, is all that 
remains to remind us of St Michael's Lane 
Meeting, a chapel of the Independents, The 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 151 

lane is a cul-de-sac, uninviting at the 
entrance, leading by a devious way to 
business premises, where one may cer- 
tainly pursue his vocation in delightful 
solitude. 

Mildred Court, Poultry, is indebted for its 
name to the extinct St Mildred's Church. 
St Mildred was a Saxon princess, niece of 
Penda, King of Mercia. She preferred the 
quiet simplicity of a convent to the garish 
delights of the Saxon Court. The parish of 
St Mildred the Virgin is now incorporated 
with St Margaret's, Lothbury. 

Miles Lane, Thames Street. — An abbreviation 
of St Michael's Lane. The church of St 
Michael stood in Crooked Lane, and was 
removed to make room for the approach to 
the new London Bridge. 

Milford Lane, Strand, indicates the ford by 
the water mill, turned by a stream on its 
way to the river. 

Milk Street marks the site of the stalls of those 
who, when Cheapside was the market-place 
of the city, dispensed the lacteal fluid. 

Milton Street, Fore Street. — Formerly the 
renowned Grub Street, the abode of poor 



152 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

authors, poetasters, and journalistic hacks. 
It has been questioned whether the present 
name is really that of our great epic poet or 
of an obscure proprietor of the property of 
the same name. There is, however, little 
doubt that the honour may be given to the 
former. 

Mincing Lane. — Here in olden time was the 
residence of the conventual Minchuns, 
affiliated to St Helen's, Bishopsgate. Muni- 
cen, minicen (note the c was always hard, 
or as h, in O.E.) or minichen, was the 
feminine of munec or monc. It may be 
interesting to note that in "friar" we have 
the Latin /rater, a brother in a religious 
order ; that " nun " is from the Latin nonna, 
a grandmother, indicating that the first 
nuns were women of somewhat advanced 
age. For which Dr Richard Morris 
(" Historical Outlines of English Acci- 
dence") is my authority. 

Minories. — The site of the London convent of 
the Abbey of St Clare, a Franciscan Order 
of nuns, which, founded in 1212 by Clara 
Assisi, an Italian lady, rapidly extended 
through Europe. In their humility the 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 153 

nuns assumed the title of " Sorores Minor es," 
as the Franciscan monks did that of " Fratres 
Minores." They were consequently known 
as " Minoresses," and have left their name, 
slightly modified, to the locality which 
knows them no more. The north wall of 
Holy Trinity is all that remains of the 
Clare Sisters' Church. The Three Nuns 
Inn in the adjacent Aldgate is said to be a 
memento in name, as regards the nuns, but 
not as regards the number of the Minorites ; 
but I think this may be doubted. (See 
Note upon Three as an element in Signs.) 
Their farm occupied the site now known as 
Goodmans Fields, which, with Eosemary 
Lane and similar street names of the neigh- 
bourhood, have an odour of fresh country 
air, which would now be sought in vain in 
this densely populated locality. 

As regards the topography of the Minories, 
one may notice it has a Circus in miniature, 
and, moreover, of a fragmentary nature ; a 
Crescent, which has been despoiled of one 
third of its continuity ; two Squares, one an 
American, which, by the irruption of the 
railway, is no longer a square, the other a 



154 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

New square, which is characterised by incon- 
testably old and quaint houses. 

Mitre Court, Wood Street. — From the sign of 
an old tavern of Charles the Second's time, 
to which Pepys resorted, to play at the now 
mysterious game of "handycap." The court 
is of a meandering nature, and adorned with 
a massive oaken door at the Wood Street 
entrance, well worthy of inspection. 

Mitre Square and Street, Aldgate, of which 
the street is the elder, are also reminiscences 
of an old sign. 

Moorfields. — Moorfields and Moor Lane preserve 
the memory of the extensive moor which 
stretched northward from the city walls 
towards the Middlesex woods. 

Moorgate Street. {See Gates.) 

Monkwell Street, Aldersgate. — Here was the 
hermitage of the monastery of Garendon, 
Lincolnshire, and from the well attached 
thereto the street derived its name, for 
which statement Stow is the authority. It 
is, however, asserted that the original name 
was Mog or Mugwelle before the founding 
of the monastery ; but who the illustrious 
Mog or Mug was, or what he did beyond 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 155 

endowing the well with his cacophonous 
name, nobody knows. The well by any 
name was no doubt once sweet. 

Mumford Court, Milk Street. — James Mum- 
ford was surgeon to Henry VIII. , and he 
may have possessed property hereabouts. 
In any case, the name is derived from a 
past owner. 

Muscovy Court, Tower Hill. — A reminiscence 
of Peter the Great's visit to London and 
Deptford in 1698, which is further alluded 
to in Catherine Court. 

Myddelton Street, Square, and Place, Clerk- 
enwell. A worthy commemoration of Sir 
Hugh Myddelton and the services he ren- 
dered in connection with the supply of 
water to north London by the New Kiver, 
which he brought from Chadwell Springs in 
Hertfordshire, a distance of thirty-eight 
miles. There is a Chadwell Street in Myd- 
delton Square. Sir Hugh was a goldsmith, 
but withal died poor in the year 1631. The 
seventy-five original New Eiver shares of 
£100 now sell at from £85,000 to £95,000. 



isr 



New Square, Minories, was so named appar- 
ently in distinction to the previously exist- 
ing America Square. The fatuity of such 
nomenclature is demonstrated by the anti- 
quity of most of our squares, streets, etc., 
known under the name of New. Even the 
chronological value may be lost by the con- 
struction of more recent squares, streets, 
etc., unless the terms, " newer" and " newest," 
to be superseded in their turn, were intro- 
duced. This new square is characterised 
by incontestably old and curious houses. 
(For other anomalies of the neighbourhood 
see Minories, under the topographical para- 
graph.) 

New Streets and Courts, Several. — The most 
that can be said of these is that they were 
new once. Time has robbed them of the 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 157 

appropriateness of the name, the bestowal 
of which indicates a heedlessness of the 
future, which makes all new things old, and 
a poverty of invention highly discreditable 
to the nomenclators. 

New Broad Street was formerly Petty France, 
a name bestowed from the circumstance of 
its being inhabited chiefly by French 
refugees — a kind of early Leicester Square. 
It was reformed into a continuation of Old 
Broad Street, a name originating from the 
then superior and impressive width of the 
thoroughfare early in the eighteenth cen- 
tury. (See also Broad Street.) 

Newcastle Street, Farringdon Eoad, is inter- 
esting in the name it bears, as demonstrat- 
ing the availability of the Fleet Kiver in 
times past for the passage of colliers, chiefly 
from Newcastle, and other small vessels. 
Seacoal Lane was named from the same 
circumstance, but has now disappeared. 

Newgate Street. (See Gates.) 

Newman's Court, Cornhill. — One Newman ap- 
pears to have been the original owner, of whom 
nothing but the name is known. This is one 
of those snug creeks into which the worried 



158 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

pedestrian may turn out of the strong current 
of Cornhill — a little haven of rest and peace. 
Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street, is a record of 
the old church of St Nicholas Aeon, destroyed 
in the Great Fire and not rebuilt. A 
portion of the churchyard remains. The 
church was of great antiquity, as there is a 
record concerning it in 1084. Nicholas was 
a citizen of Lysia in Asia Minor, " casually 
chosen bishop of Myrsea out of a caprice 
of the electors " ; the electors being the 
bishops and priests, and their caprice being 
that whoever first entered the church on a 
certain day should be elected bishop. It 
appears, however, that Nicholas, although 
chosen in this eccentric manner, gave entire 
satisfaction. The facts were probably some- 
what different to the tradition. As regards 
the cognomen " Aeon," this was added many 
years after the building of the church. It 
is said to have been a title of Thomas a 
Becket, derived from the circumstance that, 
under the energy given by invocation of the 
martyr's name, certain pilgrim soldiers were 
successful in their efforts at the siege of 
Acre in the Holy Land, and for some reason 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 159 

not recorded, this church shared the 
honour with St Thomas Aeon. Aeon 
has been referred, but doubtfully, to the 
possible existence of an adjacent oak-tree. 

Nightingale Lane, Wapping, has been re- 
ferred to the Knighten Guild, a company 
of thirteen knights to whom King Edgar 
granted a piece of land hereabouts, 
with liberty to found a guild, of which there 
remains this commemorative name in a 
modified form. But some later authorities 
are inclined to give sweet Philomela or 
(pardon the bathos) an alehouse sign the 
credit of originating the name. 

Norfolk Street, Strand, marks the site of the 
London residence of the Howards, Dukes of 
Norfolk. 

Northampton Square, Clerkenwell, is the 
site of the old London house and gardens 
of the Earls of Northampton. 

Northumberland Alley, Fenchurch Street. — 
The Earls of Northumberland had their 
town house in Fenchurch Street, of which 
this humble alley alone furnishes a memento. 
Not another vestige of the noble residents 
can be found. 



160 LOtfl)Otf STREET NAMES. 

Norton Folgate was a manor belonging to the 
Dean and Chapter of St Paul's. Norton 
indicated its situation north of the city. 
As regards Folgate, it has been suggested 
that it is equivalent to Forth-the-Gate, as 
being outside Bishopsgate. This suggestion 
is, I think, untenable, as it was too great 
a distance from the Gate to render it 
plausible. It is immediately beyond the 
limit of the liberty of Bishopsgate Without, 
and is spoken of by Stow as the Norton 
Fall Gate, and in older records still as the 
Fold Gate, the folding or shutting gate on 
the north, and as such was one of the Bars 
of the city (see Bars). At the corner of 
"White Lion Street there is built into the 
wall of the house on the north side what is 
stated to be the jamb of the old gate. The 
statement may be discarded, as the Bar was 
further south, about on a level with Spital 
Square. 

Nun Court, Coleman Street. — This may be a 
reminiscence of an old sign, but as the name 
was formerly Nuns, or Nun's, it probably 
indicated the owner. There was no con- 
ventual establishment adjacent. It is now 
a very humble yard. 



o 



Oat Lane, Wood Stkeet. — In Stow's time 
Oate Lane. It appears to be indebted for its 
name to the owner or builder. The neighbour- 
hood never had any connection with grain. 

Old Bailey was the site of the Roman vallum, 
forming part of the city's fortifications 
external to the Wall, hence Ballium and 
Bailey. A vallum was a rampart of 
palisades, so called from vallus, a stake, and 
was planted on the top of the agger, or 
mound, thrown up for the purposes of 
defence. Our own word " wall " is closely 
allied, for literally and originally it means a 
fence of stakes ; such a fence as forms the 
primitive fortifications of all barbarous 
nations ; and although now a wall is not 
a fence, and is not composed of stakes, the 
idea of enclosing and fencing off remains. 

Another derivation of Bailey, which for a 
time had currency, was that of a corruption 
of Balehill, "an eminence whereon was situate 

L 



162 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the Bale or Bailiff's house, wherein he held a 
Court for the trying of malefactors," but of 
this there is no historic evidence beyond that 
afforded by the inadequate circumstance that 
the name Balehill is, or was, found in con- 
nection with other cities in the kingdom. 
No antiquaries now support the theory. 

Old Change, Cheapside, was the ancient site of 
the King's Exchange, where the supply of 
bullion to the mints, the distribution of the 
coinage, and the exchange of foreign coin, 
were regulated. Closely allied was the 
bankers' business, the earliest form of which 
was the keeping of "running cashes," or 
current accounts, by the goldsmiths, who 
occupied this western end of Cheap, inso- 
much that it was at one time known as 
G-oldsmiths' Eow. The goldsmiths subse- 
quently betook themselves to the old 
financial quarters of Lombard Street, where 
their descendants remain. 

Old Jewry. — One of the localities allotted in 
olden times as a residence for the Jews. 
The terminal ry is the O.E. ru or ra, having a 
collective signification, as in rookery, eyry 
(eggery), poultry, etc, 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 163 

The Jews followed William I. from Nor- 
mandy, and being a ready source of 
revenue, were allowed to establish them- 
selves, under royal protection, in separate 
quarters or " Jewries " in the chief towns of 
England. The Jewry we are now consider- 
ing extended on both sides of the present 
Gresham Street to Basinghall and the Old 
Jewry. The Jew had no legal right or 
citizenship, and the Jewry was exempt from 
common law. He was a valuable royal 
chattel, was the sole capitalist, and exacted 
heavy usury ; whilst his loans gave an 
impulse to that industry which could have 
found but little scope without them. Thus 
he amassed wealth, which was ruthlessly 
confiscated for the royal exchequer when- 
ever need arose, as it frequently did. 
Although to a certain extent the Jews 
enjoyed royal protection, not of a dis- 
interested kind, the popular hatred, not 
altogether undeserved, of which we have a 
lively representation in "Ivanhoe," ever 
pursued them with insatiable intensity. 
The sacking of Jewries, the terrible persecu- 
tions of the law, the crippling of their trade 
by the prohibition of usury, at length 



164 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

readied a climax in their expulsion by 
Edward I. in 1290, as one means of securing 
popular favour. They were " pursued by 
the execrations of the infuriated rabble/' 
which is undoubtedly putting it strongly 
and graphically, "leaving in the hands of 
the king all their property, debts, obliga- 
tions, and mortgages." But happier and 
quieter times at last dawned upon them, 
when Cromwell connived at their return to 
London and elsewhere, and when they 
resettled at Aldgate soon after the Eestora- 
tion, as recognised citizens. 

Old Swan Lane, Thames Street. (See Swan 
Lane.) 

Oxford Court, Cannon Street. — On the west 
side of St Swithins Church was the spacious 
city mansion of the Priory of Tortington, 
in Sussex. This was purchased by the Earl 
of Oxford, who named it Oxford Place. In 
1641 the Salters' Company acquired it for 
their Hall. It was destroyed by the Great 
Fire, but rebuilt, and remained their home 
until 1821, when it was pulled down and 
gave place to the present buildings. (See 
Salters' Hall Court.) 



p 



Pancras Lane, Queen Street, with the assist- 
ance of a portion of the churchyard, pre- 
serves the memory of the church dedicated 
to St Pancras, a young Phrygian nobleman, 
an early Christian, who suffered martyrdom 
at the hands of Diocletian, in the year 286. 
The church was destroyed by the Fire, and 
was not rebuilt, the parish being annexed 
to St Mary-le-Bow. 

Pannier Alley, Newgate Street. — The name 
is supposed to have reference to, or connec- 
tion with, the article on which the insuffi- 
ciently clothed lad is sitting on the litho- 
graphic symbol which adorns the eastern 
side of the alley. This is stated to be a 
pannier, or bread-basket, and as we can 
hardly argue from its general vagueness 
that it is not, we may accept the statement 



166 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

as provisionally correct. What the monu- 
ment typifies is uncertain, but there is little 
doubt it is an ancient tavern sign, origin- 
ally built into the wall of the hostelry it 
adorned. The lad is probably a kind of 
abstract juvenile Bacchus, holding in his 
hand a bunch of grapes, signifying the 
vinous liquor to be found within. It has 
also been conjectured that the child is 
handing out a loaf (which would account for 
his seat being a pannier), on the ground 
that the alley was an allotted standing (or 
sitting ?) place for bakers' boys with their 
wares. Still another conjecture is that the 
pannier here depicted is a fruit-basket, and 
that the lad is endeavouring to dispose of 
its contents. His dress, or undress, is, I 
think, contrary to both these latter supposi- 
tions, and the first hypothesis is the most 
tenable. Indeed, Mr Welch, the City 
Librarian, informs us that a Pannier or 
Panyer was a tavern sign in Paternoster 
Kow about the year 1430 — two hundred 
and sixty years anterior to the date 
inscribed upon the stone (which we may 
assume is the date of its removal to its 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 167 

present site), and it was probably from this 
sign that the alley derived its name. 
Paternoster Eow. — The usual explanation of 
the name, and the one which most com- 
mends itself, is that here the stationers or 
text-writers, who, says Stow, wrote and 
sold all sorts of books, rosaries, or absies 
(booklets containing the Paternoster, Ave, 
Creed, Graces, etc., the "A B C," or absy, 
of theological principles) were located here 
adjacent to the Cathedral. Another ex- 
planation, which at any rate has an air of 
plausibility and circumstantiality to recom- 
mend it, is that the Eomish processions 
on Corpus Christi Day, or Holy Thursday, 
assembled at the Cheapside end of the 
street, and marching westward commenced 
to chant the Paternoster, which occupied 
them the length of the Eow, thence called 
Paternoster. Then they passed through 
what is now Ave Maria Lane, chanting the 
salutation to the Virgin, the Ave Maria, 
which continued until they reached Creed 
Lane, where they chanted the Credo, which 
ended when they arrived at the spot now 
known as Amen Corner, where they sang 



168 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the concluding Amen. -Ghe non 3 vero 4 
hen trovato, and so we will not quarrel 
with the ingenious tradition. 

The Row has seen a variety of inhabitants. 
At first entirely ecclesiastical in character, 
it afterwards became the abode of spurriers, 
then of mercers and silkmen, who are even 
now in force in the adjacent neighbourhood. 
Then followed stationers and booksellers, 
succeeded by vendors of female head-gear, 
and finally dispensers of literature, with an 
intermixture of lighter kinds of business. 

Paul Alley, St Paul's Churchyard, marks 
the site of one of the six gates of the wall 
which enclosed the Cathedral precincts (see 
Carter Lane), the area of which is now 
St Paul's Churchyard. The gates were : the 
principal, opening into Ludgate Street, now 
Hill ; this of Paul's Alley, being the postern 
to Paternoster Row ; one in Canon Alley ; 
the " Little Gate," leading into Cheapside ; 
the Augustine Gate to Watling Street ; and 
one by Paul's Chain. 

Paul's Bakehouse Yard, Godliman Street. — 
The original constitution of the Chapter of 
St Paul's, Dean Milman informs us, included 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 169 

a common (in its proper sense) refectory, 
kitchen, buttery, brewhouse, bakehouse, and 
mill ; and here is indicated the site of the 
bakehouse, the only institution of them all 
thus handed down in name to posterity. 

Paul's Chain calls to mind the chain which used 
to be drawn across the carriage way of the 
old cathedral yard to prevent vehicular 
traffic during service, on the plea of preserv- 
ing silence. One would hardly have thought 
this device necessary to secure concentration 
of attention. The lane so named continued 
riverward to Paul's Wharf, which had a close 
connection with the Cathedral, as may be 
seen upon reference to that name, which 
follows. 

Paul's Wharf belonged to Bishop Belmers, who 
gave the rents for the service of the altar of 
St Paul's. Hence it boasts of an ecclesiastical 
connection beyond that of the mere name. 

Pear Tree Court, Clerkenwell Close, a once 
not uncommon name. It must be referred 
to an old sign, rather than to the existence 
of a pear tree. 

Peter's Hill, Thames Street, received its name 
from the church of St Peter, Paul's Wharf, 



170 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

now united to St Nicholas Cole Abbey. The 
church was of ancient foundation, certainly- 
prior to 1181. It was not rebuilt after the 
Fire, but the site was converted into a 
cemetery, of which a small portion, eastward 
of the hill, remains, preaching a daily homily 
to the occupiers of the overlooking offices 
upon the inexhaustible text of Memento 
mori. The hill itself is now but a poor 
little cul-de-sac, or recess, as regards the 
Thames Street end. Its upper half, cut off 
by Queen Victoria Street, remains to the 
north thereof. 
Philpot Lane. — Here resided Sir John Philpot, 
who was also owner of the property, grocer, 
and Mayor in 1379. He was especially 
conspicuous for the energy he displayed in 
obtaining protection for the vessels engaged 
in the trade of the port, which was then 
developing, from piratic interlopers. He 
gathered together a force of about a thousand 
Thames sailors and watermen, put to sea 
with his squadron, and captured on the east 
coast a Scottish pirate, who had been a very 
troublesome marauder, and thus well earned 
the immortality here bestowed upon his 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 171 

memory. For a history of the guardian care 
exercised by the citizens upon the growing 
commerce of their great water highway see 
the Chapter on Trade in Loftie's " London," 
in the Historic Towns Series. Philpot is 
also mentioned by Stow as causing the Town 
Ditch (Houndsditch to the Kiver) to be 
cleansed, for which an impost of fivepence 
was levied upon every householder. 

Phil's Buildings, Houndsditch. — A " clothes 
and general mart," forming a passage into 
Kag Fair, not inviting close inspection by 
the ordinary wayfarer. Phil's full name 
was no doubt Philip, of Hebrew descent, and 
owner of the property. 

Phoenix Court, Newgate Street.— Eelic of an old 
sign, probably in Newgate Street itself. It is 
now a gruesome court or cul-de-sac; ashes and 
dirt being the only elements at all suggestive 
of the phoenix. There is no trace of the sweet- 
smelling spice of which the bird formed its 
nest prior to immolation — rather the reverse ; 
a court down which, I feel assured, no one 
goes more than once, except on business. 

Pilgrim Street, Blackfriars, is said to be 
the road taken by pilgrims from the water 



172 LOHDON STREET ttAMES. 

gate to St Paul's, which I am afraid is mere 
conjecture. The name appears to be com- 
paratively modern, assigned by some one 
inspired by the ecclesiastical surroundings. 
The same spirit probably evolved the title of 
Evangelist Court, adjacent, which has very 
little of evangelical aspect or attributes. 

Pinners' Court, Old Broad Street — Wherein 
is Pinners' Hall, formerly the Austin Friars' 
Hall — is a memento of the past glory of the 
Pinmakers' Company, a fraternity incorpor- 
ated so long ago as 1636. Now they have 
no Hall. The court is one of the quiet nooks 
of the city. 

Playhouse Yard, Blackfriars. — The site of 
an old theatre, built by Burbage in 1575, 
hallowed by the acting of Shakespeare, who 
was a shareholder in the venture previous to 
his proprietorship of the celebrated Globe on 
the opposite shore. The building was pulled 
down in 1655. 

Playhouse Yard, Whitecross Street, occupies 
the site of the Fortune Playhouse, founded 
by Edward Alleyn, of Dulwich Cottage 
celebrity (circa 1600). 

Plough Court, Lombard Street. — A memento 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 173 

of the Plow Tavern, long since removed. 
Looking up from Lombard Court we have 
a noble vista, formed by the long range of 
lofty buildings on either side. 

Pope's Head Alley, Cornhill, is a record of 
the old Pope's Head Tavern, of great 
celebrity as far back as Henry VI. 's time. 
Stow thinks it may originally have been a 
royal palace, as it bore the English arms. 

Poppin's Court, Fleet Street, is named either 
from the sports practised there or thereabouts, 
of which the popinjay was one (for which the 
inquisitive reader may consult Strutt, or any 
other writer on Ancient Sports), or from its 
being the site of a religious fraternity, having 
the popinjay for a crest, — an assumption 
hazarded by the enterprising restaurateur 
who plies his vocation at the corner. 

Postern Eow, Tower Hill, has been swept away 
by modern improvements, and is no longer 
numbered amongst our streets. The memory 
of it is, however, worthy of a passing allusion, 
and some particulars respecting it, the most 
important postern of the ancient wall, will 
be found under the head of Gates. 

Poultry indicates the locality where the 



174 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

poulterers kept their market stalls. Ad- 
jacent was Scalding Alley, where now is 
Mildred's Court, so called from its being 
the scene of the scalding of fowls and pigs 
after singeing. The word "poulterer" is an 
extension of the original, "poulter," which 
survives as a not uncommon surname. A 
poult is a little hen or fowl (Fr. poulet, 
diminutive of poule). Pullet is cognate. 
Thus does the thoroughfare lead us to 
philological musings. 

Priest's Court, Foster Lane. — Adjacent to St 
Vedast's Church, from which we mav infer 
that it was probably the site of the ecclesi- 
astical residence, but its present aspect does 
not encourage the assumption. 

Printing House Square. — Here was the office of 
the King's Printer until 1770. The Times, 
which made its appearance in 1785, is an 
appropriate, worthy, and potent successor. 

Prudent Passage, King Street, Cheapside, 
appears to be a name of comparatively 
modern application — that is to say, within 
the last hundred years, as I do not find it in 
earlier records ; but its origin I am at present 
unable to trace. Had it been Prudence, we 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 175 

might have fairly assumed it had reference 
to the spouse of the owner of the property. 
As it is, we may suppose it had some con- 
nection, real or apparent, with foresight 
or judgment in the construction of the 
court. 

Prujean Square, Old Bailey. — A memento of 
Sir Francis Prujean, an eminent physician, 
and President of the College from 1650 to 
1654. 

Pudding Lane, Eastcheap, formerly Pother or 
Ped Pose Lane, from a tavern sign. It 
acquired the name of Pudding from the 
circumstance that the butchers of Eastcheap 
had their scalding-house for hogs here, and, 
says Stow, with more force than delicacy 
(good old Stow never minced matters), 
" Their puddings, with other filth of beasts, 
are voided down that way to their dungboats 
on the Thames." Puddings, which etymo- 
logically signifies something bulging out, 
were the intestines of animals. I believe a 
hog's pudding, into the merits of which I am 
not desirous of closely inquiring, is some- 
thing of the kind to this day. 



Q 



Queen Street, Cheapside, formerly Soper's Lane, 
the abode of the soapmakers, unless it be 
true, as Stow declares, that it took its name 
from one Soper, who resided here in the time 
of Edward II. ; but the former explanation 
is generally accepted. The thoroughfare 
was renamed upon rebuilding after destruc- 
tion by the Great Fire. Here, it is stated, 
the Queens of England were accustomed to 
witness the tourneys, which, on special 
occasions, were held in Cheapside, from a 
stone balcony erected at the corner of the 
street. It was thus associated with royalty, 
but it received its present name in honour 
of Charles II. 's queen. 

As regards other Queen Streets, etc., the 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 177 

reader is referred to the Preliminary Obser- 
vations. 
Queenhithe. — In some old documents this is 
spelt Cornhithe, whence it has been sug 
gested that the name may have been derived 
from the quern (O.E. cweorn) or mill (a 
great wonder at the time, says Stow) used 
for the corn which, with fish and other 
commodities, was landed at this hithe. But 
the method of spelling is no proof in itself, 
for old documents are somewhat remark- 
able for the latitude allowed in orthography, 
owing to the language not having then 
become fixed. Another account of the 
origin of the name, which we may accept as 
correct, is that the hithe originally belonged 
to one Edred, whence it was known as 
Edred's hithe. It afterwards passed into 
the hands of King Stephen, and was by him 
given to William de Ypre&, by whom it was 
bequeathed to the Convent of the Holy Trinity 
of Aldgate, from whom it reverted to royalty, 
passing into the possession of Queen Eleanor, 
wife of Henry II. , who derived a revenue 
from duties imposed on the goods landed, 
and whose royal title it retains to this day. 

M 



178 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Queen's Head Passage, Newgate Street, 
simply records the sign of an ancient tavern. 
It is noteworthy that the hostelry which 
now guards the entrance is the Kings 
Head. 



E 



Ray Street, Farringdon Road, formerly Rag 
Street, is named from an obscure private indi- 
vidual, but is noteworthy as a landmark in 
our search for the pump which marks, or 
marked, the spring of the old Clerks' Well 
(but see Clerkenwell). 

Red Cross Street, Barbican, derives its name 
from the red cross which once graced the 
thoroughfare. A cognate erection stood in 
the adjacent Whitecross Street. 

An interesting enquiry might be pursued 
with respect to the numerous crosses of 
London, as to whether they were Sanctuary, 
Boundary, Memorial, or for other purposes 
which crosses have served. Such an enquiry 
would doubtless involve much instructive 
research. 



180 LONDON STREET NAMES* 

Ked Lion Court, Cannon Street, perpetuates 
an old inn sign, as the Old Eed Lion, now 
existent, in all his rampancy, testifies beyond 
a doubt. 

Eedgate Court, Minories, probably indicates the 
former existence of a way into Goodman's 
Fields, when they were fields, through a red 
gate at the end of a country lane. I doubt 
if any ordinary pedestrian, however bold he 
may be, ever now makes his way from end 
to end of the court. A somewhat analogous 
name was Green Lettuce Lane — a corrup- 
tion of Green Lattice, as the upper part of 
Lawrence Pountney Hill was called — a 
reminiscence of the lattice gate which opened 
from the Duke of Suffolk's garden into 
Cannon Street (see Suffolk Lane). 

Robin Hood Court. Milk Street. — From an 
old sign. A speciality of this court is its 
gate at either end, as though indeed it might 
have formed a stronghold in the Middle 
Ages. Evidently it desires no connection 
with the contiguous Eussia Court. 
Eoman Bath Street, Newgate Street, for- 
merly simply Bath Street, from the previous 
cognomen of Bagnio Court, the site of the 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 181 

Royal Bagnio, erected in 1679, and which 
has long ceased to exist. Roman seems 
to be a capricious and meaningless addi- 
tion to the name, for effect's sake appar- 
ently, for there was never a Eoman bath 
here. 

Eood Lane recalls to mind the rood or cross set 
up in the churchyard of St Margaret Pattens. 
When the old church was demolished for 
rebuilding, the cross was specially blessed 
by the Pope, with particular reference to 
indulgences and pardons to those who came 
to pray before it and make their offerings 
towards the rebuilding of the church. The 
edifice was completed in 1538, soon after 
the Reformation, and the rood was one night 
broken in pieces and its tabernacle entirely 
demolished by religious zealots, who re- 
garded it as an idolatrous article, from the 
manner of its use. 

Rose Streets, Alleys, and Courts. — The Rose, 
either alone or in combination with the 
congenial Crown, gave name to very many 
thoroughfares in olden time, most of which 
have disappeared or have been endowed 
with other names. The rose was the 



182 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

badge of Edward I. It was also used as 
a device by the sons of Edward III. John 
of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, adopted a 
red rose ; his brother Edward, Duke of York, 
a white one. The two rival houses being 
happily united by Henry VII. marrying the 
eldest daughter of Edward IV., the two 
roses were combined, the white being placed 
within the red, and so became the royal 
badge of England. 

Rosemary Lane was so named from its prolific 
production of the odoriferous herb. As we 
. conceive the open country spaces on the 
very borders of the city in olden times, our 
senses are refreshed by the waft of pure 
fresh air laden with this and kindred sweet- 
smelling herbs. 

Russia Court and Eow, Milk Street. — The 
origin of this name at present baffles one. 
It does not appear in old records, and I 
doubt if it has any genuine Muscovite 
connection. The Row is not a thoroughfare 
in itself; it is dependent upon the suffer- 
ance of Robin Hood Court, from which it is 
separated by a stout iron gate. There is a 
mediaeval air about the place ; not an air 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 183 

that one cares to breathe too long at a 
time. 
Eutland Place, Charterhouse Square, marks 
the site of the town house of the Earls 
of Eutland. 



8 



Sadler's Wells. — One of the many wells of 
London. The spot was in early times much 
resorted to for the salubrity of its waters. 
To the waters succeeded wines and refresh- 
ments of all kinds, with certain amusements 
to attract the citizens. These reached their 
climax in 1683, when a Mr Sadler built a 
theatre and bestowed the local name. 

Saffron Hill tells us of the time when saffron 
or crocus-beds formed a feature in the garden 
of Ely House. (See Ely Place.) 

St Alban's Court, Wood Street, is so named 
from the adjacent church. St Alban was 
the British proto-martyr. The church tower 
is well worthy of note. We are told by 
Matthew Paris that in 1077 this church 
belonged to the Abbey of St Alban's, but 
was subsequently transferred to the Abbot 
of Westminster, 



london street names. 185 

St Andrew's Hill, Queen Victoria Street, 
formerly Puddle Dock Hill, derives its pre- 
sent name from the church of St Andrew in 
the Wardrobe. For information as to the 
specific cognomen of the church, see Ward- 
robe Place. 

St Benet's Place, Gracechurch Street, is an 
old-fashioned little thoroughfare, quite in 
harmony with the contiguous Brabant Court, 
with which it is connected by a glazed 
passage, narrow and barred, apparently as 
a protest against obesity. It serves as a 
memento of the church of St Benet, Grace- 
church Street, one of the many of the past, 
which stood at the south-west corner of 
Fenchurch Street until comparatively recent 
times. 

St Dunstan's Hill and Alley, Tower Street, 
are so named from the church, which is as 
advantageously and picturesquely situated 
as any in London. It would be unpardon- 
able, even though it may be beyond the 
scope of this little book, not to direct par- 
ticular attention to the Gothic tower, one 
of the finest in the kingdom, said to have 
been built according to a fancy of Miss Wren's, 



186 LONDON STEEET NAMES. 

St Helen's Place, Bishopsgate, formerly Little 
St Helen's, in contradistinction to Great 
St Helen's ; site of the nunnery of St 
Helen, in connection with the adjoining 
church. This Benedictine Priory was 
founded in 1210; and after its dissolution 
the Nuns' Hall was purchased and used as a 
Common HallbytheLeathersellers' Company. 
In 1799 it was destroyed, and St Helen's 
Place built on its site. In Stow's opinion, 
with which we must concur, " The church 
is a fair one, but wanteth such a steeple as 
Sir Thomas Gresham promised to have built, 
in recompense of ground in this church filled 
up with his monument, prepared during his 
lifetime." We have here a relic of the past, 
which no citizen should omit to lovingly 
and reverently inspect, and every informa- 
tion is considerately given by those in charge 
of the church. A full account of the Priory 
may be found in Allen's " History of 
London." 

St John's Gate, Passage, Square, Street, 
Clerkenwell, are reminiscences of the Hos- 
pitallers — the Knights of the Hospital of St 
John formerly here situate. This once power- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 187 

ful military and religious Order owned nearly 
nineteen thousand manors in Europe. It 
was dissolved and declared illegal in England 
by Henry YIIL in 1541. The Gate, still 
standing, is a visible witness of the past, and 
is therefore of surpassing interest, as some- 
thing genuine and tangible. The Square 
occupies the old courtyard ; and the street 
says Stow, stretcheth towards Iseldon, as 
Islington was in his time named. 

St Katharine's Docks mark the site of the 
Abbey of St Katharine, transferred to the 
west when the Docks were constructed, in 
the early part of the present century. The 
modern representative of the abbey is by 
Eegent's Park, and still affords a retreat for 
sundry gentlemen and gentlewomen. The 
original asylum was founded by Matilda of 
Bretagne [temp. Stephen), and a condition 
of tenancy was frequent prayer for the souls 
of her two dead children. Whether this 
requirement is still observed I do not know. 

St Martin's-le-Grand is the site of an ancient 
religious foundation, dedicated to St Martin, 
in 1056. It maintained until a late period 
the rights of sanctuary, which often meant 



188 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the wrongs of honest men and the protection 
of knaves. The fundamental idea — a good 
one to start with — was no doubt that 
criminals should not be dealt with in hot 
blood ; but the idea speedily became subject 
to abuse, so that they often, by taking sanc- 
tuary, escaped being dealt with at all. For 
instance, there is the typical story of a poor 
widow of Aldgate, who took compassion on 
a destitute Breton, took him home and 
treated him kindly — which we at the pre- 
sent day should say was extremely inju- 
dicious. He took the earliest opportunity of 
murdering his benefactress and carrying off 
her portable property. His crime was de- 
tected, but he fled to Southwark, where he 
took sanctuary. He was starved. out, but the 
only punishment applicable to one who had 
taken sanctuary was expulsion from the 
kingdom, and so he was simply expelled. 

Le Grand, as applied to St Martin's 
College, is supposed to have reference 
to its greater than ordinary privileges of 
sanctuary. 
St Mary-at-Hill, Thames Street, owes its 
name to the church, which derives its 



LONDOtf STREET NAMES. 180 

specific appellation from its situation on the 
acclivity of the river bank, or, as an old 
author says, "upon a pleasant eminence." 
St Mary Axe, originally St Mary Street 
simply. In olden time here stood a parish 
church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, St 
Ursule, and the eleven thousand virgins — a 
dedication equal in amplitude to any emer- 
gency. The specific designation has refer- 
ence to a holy relic which the church 
possessed ; to wit, " an axe, one of the iij 
that the xjm a (xi millia, i.e. 11,000) Virgins 
of St Ursula were beheaded w*," says an old 
chronicle. But as the tradition of Ursula 
and her virgins is open to pious doubt, so is 
that of this axe. Another explanation more 
probable is that the church adjoined a shop 
having that deadly instrument as a sign, 
hence St Mary by the Axe, abbreviated into 
St Mary Axe, and transferred from church 
to street.. The church was also known as 
St Mary Pelliper (a pelliper being a skin 
preparer or dresser ; Lat. 'pellis, a pelt), from 
the circumstance that on its north side was 
a plot of ground belonging to the skinners. 
The former title proved the more enduring, 



190 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

and has continued long after the disappear- 
ance of the sacred edifice itself. 

St Michael's Alley, Cornhill, obviously 
named from the adjacent church. {Consult 
Appendix I.) 

St Peter's Alley, Cornhill, obviously named 
from the adjacent church. (Consult Ap- 
pendix I.) 

St Swithin's Lane is named from the adjoining 
parish church. Stow records that Sir John 
Hende, mayor in 1404, an especial bene- 
factor, lies buried herein, " with a fair stone 
laid on him," as though his heirs and 
legatees were apprehensive of a premature 
resurrection. St Swithin, or Swithun, was 
Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor to 
King Egbert ; died 862 ; buried in Win- 
chester Churchyard, where, in accordance 
with his own request, " passers-by might 
tread on his grave, and where the rain from 
the eaves might fall on it." 

Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, occupies the 
courtyard of old Salisbury House, which 
pertained to the see of Sarum, and formed 
the town residence of the bishops. 

Salter's Court, Bow Lane, a very small 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 191 

cul-de-sac, perpetuating the memory of an 
old proprietor. 
Salters' Hall Court, Cannon Street, so 
named from the Salters' Hall, once here 
situate; removed in 1821 to St Swithin's 
Lane. The Salters is an honourable com- 
pany, of considerable antiquity, there being 
record of a grant of a livery by Eichard II. 
in 1394. Speaking of liveries in connection 
with our city companies, the following par- 
ticulars from " Chambers's Encyclopaedia" are 
of much interest. 

The word is derived through the French 
from the Latin liber are, "to deliver," from the 
custom of the Merovingian and Carlovingian 
kings delivering splendid habits to their 
households on great festivals. Thus, each 
noble family had its distinctive livery 
colours, and their members were entitled to 
wear them. Analogously, the freemen of 
the city guilds are entitled to wear the 
livery of their respective companies, and for 
this reason are called " liverymen." In former 
times the companies placed in the hands of 
the Lord Mayor certain sums, to enable him 
to present to any individual unable to pur- 



192 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

chase sufficient cloth for a suit the amount 
of twenty shillings ; and the companies were 
duly proud of the magnificent appearance of 
their members in the civic train. Whether 
every liveryman now wears a livery, and 
whether liverymen are still assisted in the 
purchase of their garments or not, I do not 
know. 

Sambrook Court, Basinghall Street, was for 
some time the residence of Sir Jeremy Sam- 
brook, a notability — legal, I believe — in 
the second half of the seventeenth century. 

Savage Gardens, Tower Hill, once formed part 
of the territory of the Crutched Friars. In 
James I.'s reign this had become the pro- 
perty of Sir Thomas Savage, afterwards 
Lord Savage, whose name his whilom gar- 
dens hand down to posterity. 

Savoy Street, etc., Strand, owe their name 
to Peter, uncle of Eleanor, the queen of 
Henry III., who, when he came to reside in 
England, was created Earl of Savoy and 
Eichmond, and was granted the palace 
which had been built by Simon de Mont- 
fort, Earl of Lancaster, in 1245, which he 
renamed the Savoy Palace. It afterwards 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 193 

became the town residence of John of 
Gaunt ; was burned during Wat Tyler's 
attempt at rebellion in 1381 ; rebuilt by- 
Henry VII. as a hospital for the poor ; and 
in 1515 the Chapel Eoyal was added. It 
has had an eventful history. 

Seething Lane, formerly Sidon Lane, according 
to Stow. This being so, we may probably 
trace the transition to Seething by assum- 
ing that as the Eunic character equivalent 
to th was in Old English expressed by 
a crossed d, or "8, Sidon became Sithon, 
and then Seethin or Seething. If Stow's 
Sidon be true, it was probably a family 
name ; but doubt has been thrown upon 
his statement by the name appearing in the 
city records of 1281 as Sieuthenestrate, 
which, however, might equally be regarded 
as a family name. It cannot in any 
way be connected with the old Phoenician 
city. 

Sermon Lane, Knightrider Street, has no 
reference to ecclesiastical oratory. It is an 
abbreviation of Sheremonier Lane, the 
locality of the " sheremoneyers," whose 

vocation it was to shear or clip bullion into 

n 



194 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

shape for coining at the Old Exchange (see 
Old Change) adjacent. Sarmonneris and 
Sermoneris were transition forms. 

Shaft's Court, Leadenhall Street. — This 
obscure, and to many unknown, court, is 
the memento of an obscure and quite un- 
known proprietor of the property in olden 
time. In an ancient record it is mentioned 
as Sharp's Alley, which was probably the 
original name, corrupted by phonetic re- 
semblance. A Shaft Alley once existed in 
St Mary Axe, behind St Andrew's Under- 
shaft Church, and comprised the cottages 
whereon hung the Maypole (see Churches, 
Appendix I.) 

Sherborne Lane indicates a small portion of 
the course of the Shere Bourne, at the 
point of its deviation from the Lang Bourne 
(which see). It left the parent stream at 
about the King William Street end of the 
lane, and took a tolerably uniform curve, 
following the declivity of the hill, into the 
Wall Brook (which see), at about the centre 
of the present Dowgate Hill. Its name 
is derived from the fact of its being divided 
(O.E. sceran, to share or separate) into 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 195 

small rills or streams, and so flowing placid 
and pellucid on its way. 1 

Shoe Lane. — An abbreviation of Show Well 
Lane. The well which flowed into the 
Fleet having disappeared, that portion 
of the name, for this reason, and upon 
the linguistic principle of " least effort" (a 
principle not confined to language), dis- 
appeared also. The name is found in an 
early form as Scolane, which phonetically 
has a relation to Seacoal Lane (see New- 
castle Street). Whether it has any 
actual connection with similar circum- 
stances as that lane cannot be more than 
a matter of curious conjecture. 

Shoreditch affords an instance of the con- 
struction of one of those circumstantial 
pathetic historical legends which a sceptical 
investigating age has ruthlessly discarded 
as being without foundation in fact. The 
royal libertine, the forsaken husband, the 
abandoned mistress at last dying in a ditch, 
are held to be fictitious, and we have to 
accept the origin of the name from the 

1 The etymon of Sherborne in Dorset is scire bourn, "the 
bright shining brook." The monks called it Fons Clarus. 



196 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

prosaic John de Sordich, lord of the village 
in 1343, of whom it is recorded he lived 
a blameless life, and was buried in Hackney 
Churchyard. Stow derives the name, 
quite conjecturally and unnecessarily offen- 
sively, from a common sewer or drain 
(Sewerditch). 

Short Street, Finsbury, is aptly named, for it 
is really short. 

Shorter's Court, Throgmorton Street. — A 
Stock Exchange cul-de-sac. Sir John 
Shorter was Sheriff in 1675, and Lord 
Mayor in 1687, and was probably the 
owner of this property. 

Silk Street, Cripplegate. — A name of com- 
paratively modern application, having no 
connection with the silk industry, which 
made Spitalfields its headquarters. It 
appears to have reference to the general 
character of the business of the neighbour- 
hood, that of Manchester warehousemen, 
including a silk element. 

Silver Street, Wood Street, was so named 
from being the locality of the silversmiths ; 
not far removed from the goldsmiths. 

Sise Lane. — ■ Sise is the mutilated remains 



LOttDOtt STREET NAMES. 197 

of St Osyth (which dropped the saint, and 
then passed through the forms of Syths 
and Sise), queen and martyr, the mother 
of OfTa, King of Mercia. At the south or 
Watling Street end of the lane is a some- 
what picturesque, but withal melancholy, 
bas-relief, and a legendary notice to the 
effect that the parish church of St Antholin 
once stood here, but was demolished in 
1875, and its funds and the proceeds of the 
sale of the ground wisely devoted to more 
pressing needs. As one stands and medi- 
tates upon the inscription, he can hardly 
help picturing to his mind a quiet Sabbath 
morning, with the sunshine gleaming, and 
the city bells cheerily pealing, when the 
worthy citizens came flocking, with their 
wives and little ones and dutiful ap- 
prentices, from their business premises hard 
by, to listen to the pious exhortations, 
which no doubt influenced them in their 
dealings with their fellow-men throughout 
the succeeding week, of some worthy man 
who has long since finished his earthly work, 
fought his good fight, and gone to rest. 
Skinner Street, Clerkenwell, is a memento 



198 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

of the skin market, the actual site of which 
is now occupied by Percival Street. 

Skinner Street, Holborn, commemorates Alder- 
man Skinner, who took much interest in 
improving the neighbourhood. Thus is im- 
mortality conferred upon a worthy man ! 
He was Sheriff in 1783, and Lord Mayor 
in 1794. 

Smithfield is a corruption of Smoothfleld. Fitz- 
Stephen, one of our earliest antiquarians 
(obiit 1190), much quoted by Stow, speaks 
of it as planus campus re et nomine. It 
was a fair and smooth expanse, adapted for 
sports, tournaments, and revels, as well as 
for executions and burnings, in the exercise 
of an auto de fa or the act de comburendo 
heritico, to which our mild and gentle 
ancestors were much addicted. 

Smithfield Bars. — One of the northern bound- 
aries of the city liberties. (See Bars.) 

Snow Hill. — In Stow's time Snore Hill. 
The origin of the name appears to be 
unknow T n ; but I take Snore to be that of 
the early landowner, probably Snorro, a 
Scandinavian settler ; one of the unwept, 
unhonoured, and unsung, caret quia vate 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 199 

sacro. One daring old antiquary has it 
Sore Hill, and attributes the name to the 
labour and pain of the ascent, as indeed 
was the case until the construction of the 
viaduct ; for which what better testimony 
can we require than that of Charles Dickens 
in " Nicholas Nickleby"? • 

Southampton Street, etc., mark the site of the 
old town residence of the Earls of South- 
ampton. 

Sparrow Corner, Minories, records the name 
of an owner of the property. A congenial 
connection with the adjacent Nightingale 
Lane suggests itself, but there is no ground 
for the suggestion. 

Spitalfields and Spital Square occupy the 
territory of the Priory and Hospital of St 
Mary, founded in 1 197, and dissolved towards 
the end of the sixteenth century. The Spital 
Sermon is still delivered at Easter before 
our Lord Mayor and Aldermen, although 
the church in which it was originally 
instituted no longer exists. The present 
square marks the site of the Priory church- 
yard. 

Staining Lane, Wood Street. — Stow, un- 



200 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

willing herein to commit himself, states 
that of old time the lane was so called, as 
may be supposed, of painter stainers (.as, 
indeed, painters are still entitled in their 
Company) dwelling here, and the parish 
church at the north end thence acquired 
its name of St Mary Staining. It is more 
probable that the name of the lane was 
derived from the church, one of those 
distinguished as being built in great part 
of stone, whilst in most others wood pre- 
dominated. A portion of the churchyard 
remains, and on the house at the south- 
west corner is a record of repairs and re- 
newals which should not be allowed to suffer 
effacement, to which it is rapidly tending. 

Staple Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 

Star Alley, Fenchurch Street, was formerly 
Cradock's Lane — Cradock, a quite forgotten 
individual, being probably an early owner 
of the property. This name was in later 
days set aside in favour of Church Alley, 
having reference to Allhallows Staining 
(Allhallows being equivalent to All Saints, 
and Staining indicating the church was of 
stone, whilst most city churches had still a 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 201 

considerable quantity of wood in their 
construction, as stated under Staining 
Lane), of which only the tower now 
remains, but in a state of good preserva- 
tion. Star Alley superseded Church Alley 
long before the demolition of the church, 
for I find this name pertaining to the 
thoroughfare at least a hundred and sixty 
years ago. It appears, so far as I can 
ascertain, to be an arbitrary or fancy name, 
with no appropriate signification. 

Star Court, Bread Street, from an old tavern 
sign. The court, which is not a thorough- 
fare, is now demoted to commercial and 
manufacturing enterprise, and is rendered 
inconvenient and dangerous to ordinary 
inexperienced pedestrians by an accumu- 
lation of empty chests and boxes. 

Steelyard, Thames Street, although not a 
street, is worthy of a note. Various 
etymons have been assigned. One, as 
being the abode of the Easterling mer- 
chants from the Hanse, who did a con- 
siderable business in steel ; another, as the 
place of the king's steelyard or beam for 
weighing imports ; and yet another, as a 



202 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

contraction of staple-yard, indicating an 
emporium. The last is regarded as pro- 
bably correct. (See Note on Staple, under 
Staple Inn.) 

Stew Lane, Thames Street, is so called, says 
Stow, " of a stew or hot house there kept." 
A connection between this old term and its 
modern equivalent brothel might present 
itself to the ingenious mind, but brothel 
really means a little cottage, from the 
French bordel, horde, a hut. The lane 
was also said to lead to Stew Quay, an 
embarking or landing place for wanton 
women to or from the stews on the oppo- 
site shore. Stew-houses were recognised 
institutions in the Bankside district, under 
municipal regulations, or the license of 
the Bishop of Winchester, within whose 
liberty they were situated. They were 
painted a special colour, and bore prescribed 
signs, and were suppressed in the reign of 
Henry VIII. But these are unsavoury par- 
ticulars of London's former social life. 

Stoney Lane, Houndsditch, has no particularly 
stoney attribute now, but doubtless at its 
inception it offered this feature as distinc- 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 203 

tive in comparison with the adjacent Gravel 
Lane. Stoney and Stone Lanes and Courts 
were not uncommon in olden time. 

Strand, as forming the margin of the Thames, 
is an old London name, but it was not 
finally laid out as a thoroughfare until 
during the reign of Elizabeth, when many 
worthies of the period took up their resi- 
dence thereabouts, as the names of the 
now existing streets on the sites of their 
property abundantly testify. 

Suffolk Lane occupies a portion of the site of 
the Manor House and Grounds of the De 
la Poles, Dukes of Suffolk. The recently 
erected Suffolk House, on the contiguous 
Lawrence Pountney Hill, is a building of 
some pretension, evidently designed to be 
somewhat worthy of its ancient forerunner. 
(See also Duke's Foot Lane.) 

SuGARLOAF COURT, LEADENHALL STREET. 

Formerly Sprinckle Alley (probably the 
euphonious name of the landowner). It 
owes its present title, says Stow, to a house 
or tavern sign. 
Sugarloaf Court, Garlick Hill, is also remi- 
niscent of an old sign. Boldly venturing 



264 LO^DOtf STREET NAMES. 

into the recesses of the court, we penetrate 
into the bowels of a block of buildings of 
a nondescript character, and winding about, 
with blind faith, we at last emerge by- 
Hatchet Court into Trinity Lane. At both 
entrances the signs from which the names 
of the courts are derived still exist, but 
to that of the Sugar Loaf the Crown has 
been loyally prefixed. 

Sun Courts, Several. — From old tavern signs. 
As regards that in Cornhill, one may note 
the arms of the Merchant Tailors' Company 
in the north-west corner, adorning the very 
small visible portion of the back of their 
Hall, which extends hither from Thread- 
needle Street. 

Surrey Street, Strand, commemorates the resi- 
dence of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 
whose country seat was Surrey House, near 
Norwich. 

Sussex Place, Leadenhall Street. — This 
humble but useful thoroughfare appears 
to have received its present name, which 
is comparatively modern, in conjunction 
with Sussex Hall, once its opposite neigh- 
bour, whose site is now occupied by a suite 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 205 

of offices under the name of Sussex House. 
The Hall was originally that of the Tylers' 
and Bricklayers' Company, whose arms may 
be observed adorning the back wall in the 
court called Fenchurch Buildings. Upon 
the Company's ceasing to occupy the Hall, 
it was rented by the Jews of Aldgate, who 
used it as a literary and scientific insti- 
tution, and endowed it with the title of 
Sussex College, probably on account of 
favour or patronage from the Duke, and 
the opposite court shared in its fortunes 
to the extent of change of name. The 
College subsequently became the parent of 
the useful educational agency now flourish- 
ing in Moornelcls. 
Swan Lane, Thames Street. — This and Old 
Swan Lane (formerly Ebsgate Lane, see 
Gates) are a reminiscence of the Old 
Swan Brewery House, which faced the 
river, and marked the boundary beyond 
which, down stream, amateur anglers were 
not allowed to exercise the gentle craft, 
lest they should interfere with the voca- 
tion of the legitimate piscator. There was 
also the Swan Tavern, a very ancient 



206 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

hostelry. Its trade-tokens (see Tokenhouse 
Yard) represented a swan walking on the 
bridge, to indicate that the tavern was 
above bridge, and had no connection with 
the inferior rival establishment bearing the 
same sign below bridge. The sign was a 
not uncommon one. Old Swan Stairs was 
a landing-place as early as the fifteenth 
century. 

Stow records how " John Tate, at first a 
brewer and afterwards a mercer, Mayor in 
1514, caused his brew-house, called the 
Swan, near adjoining to the hospital of St 
Anthony, in London, to be taken down for 
the enlarging of the said church, then newly 
built, a great part of his charge (i.e. at his 
cost)." Many of the London churches owed 
much to the private benefactions of her citi- 
zens, but their enthusiastic philanthropy 
takes a different, and probably more useful, 
direction nowadays. 
Swan Street, Minories. — Formerly Swan Alley, 
from an old tavern sign. 



Tabernacle Alley, Fenchurch Street, is a 
cul-de-sac, once an entry into the grave- 
yard, into which one may peer through the 
iron gate, and meditate. The name is not 
an old one, and, so far as I can ascertain, 
appears to have been bestowed without 
regard to appropriateness. 

Talbot Court, Gracechurch Street. — Taylor, 
the Water Poet, mentions, in 1637, the 
Tabard Inn, near the Gracious Street. 
Tabard is modernised into Talbot, and 
Talbot Court is no doubt a memento of 
the old sign. It may be useful to note 
that a tabard was a short loose garment 
worn over armour by knights in the fif- 
teenth century, and now by official heralds. 
A talbot is a hunting dog, between a hound 
and a beagle, which derived its name from 
the celebrated historic family, who had the 



208 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

canine quadruped in their coat of arms. 
The confusion of the two in our tavern 
signs was not unusual. 

Telegraph Street, Moorgate Street, is 
obviously a quite modern name, bestowed 
by reason of the Postal Telegraph Schools 
established here. 

Thames Street. — The street bordering the river, 
which, like all other rivers of England (ex- 
cept two — the Ouse and the Trent, of which 
the latter is doubtful), derives its name from 
a Celtic root (vide Canon Taylor in " Words 
and Places," concerning river names 
generally). While other names have 
changed with the successive nationalities 
which have occupied our land, those of the 
hills and rivers have remained Celtic, i.e. 
British, with, of course, such slight modifi- 
cations as have been necessary to modernise 
them. Tem-ese indicates a broad or spread- 
ing water. The same root is found in the 
Teme in Worcester, and in the form of Tarn 
in the Tame in Cornwall and other counties, 
and in the Tamar in Devon. Ese assumes 
a very extensive variety of forms, from Ax 
to Uisge, all signifying water. Temese or 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 209 

Tamese became in Eoman garb Thamesis, 
and so it has remained unchanged to the pre- 
sent day, except by a slight curtailment, the 
natural effect of the growth of the language. 

Thavie's Inn. (See Inns of Court.) 

The Temple. (See Inns of Court.) 

Threadneedle Street. — Here lived honest John 
Stows father, plying his vocation as a 
tailor, and our antiquary himself resided 
here previous to his removal to Aldgate. 
Originally it was Three Needle Street, three 
needles being the charge on the escutcheon 
of the Needlemakers' Company, to whom 
the property belonged. The Merchant 
Tailors' Company appropriately acquired the 
estate in 1311, and their Hall still graces 
the thoroughfare. 

Three. — In the old shop and tavern signs, and 

therefore in the derivative names of our 

streets, three was a favourite numeral, 

owing undoubtedly in some measure to the 

frequent adoption of heraldic devices or 

badges, of which three is the normal 

number — two in chief, i.e. above the chevron, 

and one in base, i.e. below ; but in some 

cases it is obvious three has been adopted 
o 



210 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

from mere caprice, perhaps from the once 
prevalent idea that it was a lucky number. 
It will also readily occur to the mind of the 
reader how important a part this number 
has played in mythology, legendary history, 
and folk-lore of every kind. Dealing with 
our own subject, I find in an enumeration of 
streets, courts, and alleys of a hundred and 
fifty years ago, Three Anchors, Colts, Com- 
passes, Cranes, Cups, Falcons, Hats, Horse- 
shoes, Legs, Links, Needles, Pigeons, Tuns, 
Twisters, Bowls, Crowns, Daggers, Diamonds, 
Foxes, Herrings, Kings, Mariners, Moulds, 
Stills, Oaks, etc. Of these the Three Tuns, 
being the device of the Vintners' Company, 
largely predominated. Most of the thorough- 
fares named have disappeared, having been 
decidedly improved off the face of the city. 
Of those remaining we may notice — 
Three Cranes Lane, Thames Street. — A 
memento of " the three strong cranes of 
timber placed on the Vintry Wharf by the 
Thames side, to crane up wines there from 
Bordeaux." Thus Stow. Three Cranes 
Wharf, at the bottom of the lane, might 
have more appropriately served to support 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 211 

the dignity of the name, and justified its 
assumption thereof, had it had three cranes 
instead of two. Three Cranes was not an 
uncommon tavern sign, doubtless from its 
connection with the vintners, but in most 
cases the cranes took the form of the bird, 
probably being thus more intelligible to the 
ordinary wayfarer. 

Three Daggers Court, Fore Street, now the 
backyard, of most modest dimensions, of a 
public-house, " The Hope and Anchor," pro- 
bably the Three Daggers of olden time. 

Three Nuns' Court, Aldermanbury. — This 
may be a corruption of Three Tuns. I find 
the Axe was an inn sign here in the seven- 
teenth century, and that it was a famous 
point of departure for stage waggons to 
Liverpool. It appears probable that a con- 
fused connection has been made between 
the Three Nuns (or Tuns, superseded pro re 
nata) and the Axe (still the sign of a 
public-house in the court) alluded to in St 
Mary Axe. 

Three Tuns Passage, Ivy Lane. — Quite of the 
past ; not a relic remains but the name. It 
is now a mean little backway from Ivy 



212 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Lane to Paternoster Square. Three Tuns 
was once a rather popular name for London 
courts and alleys, there being no fewer than 
seventeen. (See s. v. Three.) 
Throgmorton Street. — Sir Nicholas Throg- 
morton was Chief Butler of England ; died 
1570, and is embalmed in the name of this 
busy thoroughfare. He will be remembered 
as one of Elizabeth's favourite ministers, the 
result being that he was poisoned, as 'tis 
said, by Dudley, Earl of Leicester, another 
favourite. Stow's father had a house and 
garden here, and Stow records that Lord 
Cromwell, in enlarging his own territory, 
" loosed the house from the ground and 
bore it upon rollers into my father's garden, 
twenty -two feet, ere my father heard 
thereof." Others were served in the same 
way, without compensation or daring to 
argue. So, says Stow, "thus much of mine 
own knowledge have I thought good to 
note, that the sudden rising of some men 
causeth them in some matters to forget 
themselves." His pathetic moral reflection 
must be my excuse for transcribing his 
account of the domestic trouble. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 213 

Tokenhotjse Yard recalls to mind the early days 
of the coinage when, there being nothing 
less than the silver penny, about the size 
of the modern threepenny-bit, and therefore 
inconveniently small for division into halves 
or fourths (fourthings or farthings) as 
marked by cuts penetrating half through, 
the device of private tokens, or representa- 
tive money, was resorted to by tradesmen 
by way of furnishing small change. These 
tokens were made of lead, tin, or even 
leather, and took the place of the current 
coin. It is stated there were twenty 
thousand different kinds in use between 
1648 and 1672, in which latter year an 
authorised copper coinage was issued. The 
Tokenhouse was the office for the delivery 
of these tokens, which were there exchanged 
for current silver coin of equivalent value, 
and gave its name to the yard in which it 
was situated. The history of our coinage 
is highly interesting. 

"While on the subject of tokens and coins, 
we may observe that coin originally signified 
the wedge (Lat., cuneus), by means of 
which money was stamped. From the die 



214 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

for stamping the metal the name was 
transferred to the metal itself, stamped and 
current as money. The "coining" of tin 
in Cornwall at the present time consists in 
cutting off a wedge-shaped portion for assay. 
Tower Koyal, Cannon Street. — One ingenious 
and somewhat plausible explanation of the 
name is, or rather was, for it is now quite 
discarded, that the original buildings were 
erected by merchants of the Vintry, who 
stored there certain wine imported from 
La Eeole, near Bordeaux, and therefore 
named the buildings and the street the 
Tour de la Eeole. The true explanation is 
that which is given by Stow, that " this 
tower and great place was so called of per- 
taining to the kings of this realm, but by 
whom the same was first built, or of what 
antiquity, is unknown." King Stephen is 
stated to have resided therein, and in 
Edward III.'s reign it acquired its royal ap- 
pellation. In the time of Richard II., who 
resided there with his mother, it was known 
as the Queen's Wardrobe. In later time, 
Stow records, with an expression of grief 
which does him credit, " It was neglected, 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 215 

and turned into stables for the king's 
horses, and now letten out to divers men, 
and divided into tenements." This scandal 
was ended, and its decadence completed, by 
destruction in the Great Fire. 

Trig Lane, Thames Street. — John Trigg was 
owner of the landing stairs, which have 
now disappeared, in the time of Edward III. 
His memory is honoured by the lane and 
a wharf. The family, who carried on the 
business of fishmongers, long dwelt in the 
neighbourhood. 

Trinity Court, Aldersgate, is a memento of a 
brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, resident 
on the site. 

Trinity Lane, Thames Street, is a reminiscence 
of the Church of Trinity the Less, which 
previous to the Great Eire stood at the 
north-east corner of Little Trinity Lane, 
at its junction with Great Trinity Lane. 
It was one of the many not rebuilt. 

Trump Street. — Here the manufacturers of the 
trumpets used by the city watchmen and 
at the tournaments pursued their vocation. 

Turnagain Lane, Farringdon Street. — Says 
Stow, our indispensable guide, philosopher, 



216 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

and friend, " Turnagain, or Windagain Lane 
goeth down west to Fleet Dyke, from 
whence men must turn again the same 
way they came, for there it stopped." 
Turnmill Street, Clerkenwell, is a survival 
of Turnmill Brook, a tributary of the Fleet, 
or, according to Stow, a portion of the 
stream itself, so called "for that divers mills 
were erected upon it, as appeareth by a 
fair register book, containing the founda- 
tion of the priory at Clerkenwell." These 
mills were principally flour and flatting 
mills. 



TJ 



Union Street, Ubique. — Union and Cross Streets 
(which see) are names used to mark con- 
necting thoroughfares where the idea of 
connection was obviously predominant, and 
indeed was probably the reason of their 
construction. Their multiplication is an 
undesirable and confusing element in our 
nomenclature, and the names of most might 
well be superseded by others. 



Y 



Vine Street. — In mediaeval times vineyards and 
orchards were no uncommon features in the 
gardens of the religious houses of London, 
and of private dwellings also. There is 
nothing now beyond a few names to suggest 
the picture of the poet Thomson : — 

u Low bend the weighty boughs ; the clusters clear 
Half through the foliage seen, or ardent flame 
Or shine transparent, while perfection breathes 
White o'er the turgent film the living dew. 
As thus they brighten with exalted juice, 
Touch'd into flavor by the mingling ray." 

Vine Streets, Clerkenwell, Holborn, and 
Minories. — The Vine Streets of Clerken- 
well and Holborn are mementoes of the 
vineyards attached to Ely Place. That of 
the Minories stands upon the site of the 
old vineyard pertaining to the Abbey of St 
Clare or the Minoresses. (See Minories.) 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 219 

In the early part of the present century the 
street bore the name of The Vineyard. 

Vineyard, Aldersgate Street, is a reminis- 
cence of an old vineyard attached to a 
private dwelling. 

Vineyard Walk, Clerkenwell. — In 1752 the 
site was known as The Mount, and upon its 
western slopes vines were still flourishing. 
When The Mount was razed shortly after- 
wards, the soil is said to have been sold for 
£10,000 on account of its richness. This 
reminds one of the Golden Dustman's pos- 
sessions in " Our Mutual Friend." 



w 

Walbrook, formerly Wallbrook Lane, marks a 
portion of the course of one of the streams 
which ran through London (see also Fleet, 
Langbourne, Holborn, and Sherborne), 
and derived its name from the circumstance 
that, originating just outside the northern 
wall, in the marshes of Finsbury and Moor- 
fields, the drainage of which it received, 
it passed through the wall, about where 
Blomfield Street now is, midway between 
the Moor Gate and the Bishop's Gate, and 
then ran in a south-westerly direction by 
Throgmorton Street and where is now the 
Bank to the east end of the Poultry, thence 
turning south down the present Walbrook, 
which stands upon its eastern bank, and 
Dowgate Hill to the river. The stream was 
arched over and converted into a sewer 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 221 

about the middle of the fourteenth century. 
It received the Langbourne (which see), by 
where now stands the Mansion House, and 
the Sherbourne about the centre of Dowgate 
Hill. (See also Barge Yard, Bucklers- 
bury.) 

Wardrobe Place, Carter Lane. — The site of 
a mansion built by Sir John Beauchamp, 
Warden of the Cinque Ports, died 1359; 
sold by his executors to Edward III., who 
converted it into a repository of state 
garments and royal robes w r orn at different 
times and occasions in the city, and kept 
here for convenience sake ; doubtless a 
very paradise for an archaeological Sartor 
Eesartus. It was removed after the Fire, 
but the name was retained. 

Warnford Court, Throgmorton Street, is 
now a corridor, obviously an old right-of- 
way maintained through the building which 
covers its site. Warnford was no doubt an 
old landowner, but history has failed to 
record anything about him. 

Warwick Lane commemorates the residence of 
the Earl of Warwick, "the king-maker,'' 
whose gardens ran down to the Fleet. 



222 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Previously it enjoyed the ecclesiastical 
appellation of Old Dean's Lane. 

Water Lane, Tower Street. — The lane leading 
to the water, i.e. the river, and terminating, 
in Stow's time, in a water-gate. Now it does 
neither, owing to alteration in the course 
of the streets, and thus an origin comes 
to be obscured. Superficial conjecturers 
have regarded this as possibly cognate 
with the adjacent Beer Lane, but of course 
there is no connection. (See Beer Lane.) 

Watling Street. — Our Saxon ancestors borrowed 
their word " street" from the Eoman strata, 
a name applied to the long, well-made, 
straight-as-an-arrow lines of communication 
between the most important towns and 
military positions. There were four 
principal roads thus constructed by the 
Eomans in Britain, to which the Saxons, 
when they took possession of the country, 
applied their own names. Of these, that 
which came to be called Watling Street 
was the most important, extending from 
Kichborough to Canterbury, thence to and 
through London, and on to Chester. It 
pleased the Saxons to connect this with one 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 223 

of their own mythic personages, Wsetla, an 
apotheosised Atheling, or noble, and to 
name it Wsetlinga Street, or the road of 
the Waetlings. Probably Atheling in this 
connection was a generic name, and may 
be interpreted as indicating a noble street. 
In the Saxon mythology Wsetla and his 
numerous family were located in the Milky 
Way ; and Chaucer, who, although the 
" Father of English Poetry," is much 
neglected in these latter days (but how, 
indeed, can any worthy old writer hope for 
recognition in the present whirl of litera- 
ture ?) writes in his " House of Fame " : — 

"Lo there, quod he, cast up thine eye 
Se, yonder, to the galaxie, 
The whiche men clepe the milky way : 
For it is white, and some par fay 
Y-callin it have Waetlinge-strete." 

Or, as Milton beautifully expresses it : — 
" A broad and ample road whose dust is gold, 
And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear, 
Seen in the galaxy, that milky way, 
Which nightly, as a circling zone, thou seest 
Powdered with stars." 

—"Paradise Lost," Book VII, 577-581. 

Our present Watling Street is, however, a 
deviation from the course of the original 



224 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

road through the city, which ran along what 
is now our Budge Kow, and thence by a 
direct line to the west end of the Cheap, 
and onward to the West Gate, very nearly 
in the line of our Newgate Street. The 
market arrangements appear to have inter- 
fered with its course from Budge Eow to 
Newgate Street, and it has never been 
restored. The present course of the street 
was laid out after the fire of 1136, one of 
the great fires frequently occurring in old 
wooden-housed London. 

The other roads or streets, which it may 
be interesting to notice, although a little 
foreign to our subject, were the Ryknield, 
connecting Tynemouth, York, Derby, Bir- 
mingham, and St David's. The Icknield, 
connecting Norwich, Dorchester, and Exeter. 
The Eormen, later JErmyn, from Pevensey 
to London, Lincoln, and thence up into 
Yorkshire. The AJceman may be added, 
from London to Bath, a city known as 
AJcemannes Ceaster, or " City of Invalids," 
which had an even earlier reputation in 
Koman times as Aquce Solis, on account 
of its therapeutic springs. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 225 

Well Court, Queen Street. — Late George 
Street, as the inscription informs us. This 
is but a reversion to the old name, borne 
at least a hundred and fifty years ago, and 
probably long before. Whether the well 
indicates the existence of a former spring, 
which is doubtful, or is simply a personal name 
of an old owner, which is probable, I cannot 
determine. It may be noted that Sir 
John Wells, Mayor in 1431, was a mercer, 
and a part of Well Court belonged to the 
Mercers' Company. 

Well Street, Cripplegate. — The site of 
Crowder's Well. Who Crowder was appears 
to be lost in the obscurity of the past. He 
was probably the philanthropic proprietor. 
Its waters had a reputation as a specific 
for ocular ailments, although, like many 
modern patent medicines, they aspired to 
be a panacea ; but above all, and herein 
lay their superiority, they were an antidote 
for drunkenness. 

Westmoreland Buildings, Aldersgate Street, 

commemorate the site of the town house of 

the Nevilles, Earls of Westmoreland. 

White Street, Cutler Street, the surname of 

p 



226 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the landowner, of whom nothing more is 
known. 

Whitecross Street marks the fact that here 
for many years stood a white stone cross, 
erected in very olden time, certainly as 
early as the first part of the fifteenth 
century, apparently in connection with a 
brotherhood of St Giles, founded by Henry 
V., but it may have had an even earlier 
origin, being connected with Eedcross Street 
and Beech Street (which see). 

Whitefriars serves to mark the local habita- 
tion of the Carmelite Order of Mendicant 
Friars, — the Friars of Our Lady of Mount 
Carmel in Syria, Mount Carmel being the 
dwelling-place of Elias and Eliseus, the 
prophets. They were distinguished by a 
white robe with a black hood. (See Black- 
friars, as regards the Orders in general.) 
The precinct of Whitefriars was afterwards 
known as Alsatia, and as such bore a dis- 
creditable reputation. Eeaders of Scott's 
" Fortunes of Nigel" will be familiar with 
it. 

"White Hart Court, Bishopsgate Street, and 
White Hart Street, Warwick Lane, owe 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 227 

their names to old tavern signs. The white 
hart was a favourite badge of Eichard II., 
and is supposed to have originated in the 
white hart consecrated by Diomedes to 
Diana. The thoroughfares may therefore, 
in one way or another, boast a very ancient 
connection. In the latter I observe the 
"White Hart is replaced by the Coffee Pot, 
a meaningless substitution, which does little 
credit to whoever is responsible for it. 

White Horse Alley, Smithfield, an old tavern 
sign. A snow-white steed was the ensign 
of the Saxons, from whom it has descended 
as the arms of Kent. The early invaders, 
Hengist (which signifies a stallion) and 
Horsa, were believed to have assumed 
their names from their national emblem. 

White Lion is another old tavern sign, and the 

courts and alleys named therefrom were 

once much more numerous than now, being 

no fewer than sixteen in number. The Lion 

Blanch formed part of the escutcheon of the 

Mowbray family : — 

" Who in the field or foray slack 
Saw the Blanch Lion e'er fall back 1 " 

says Scott, in the " Lay of the Last Min- 



228 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

strel." The White Lion is also the cog- 
nizance of the Dukes of Norfolk. The 
animal also supported the arms of Edward 
IV., and one helps to support our Royal 
Arms at the present time. The noble 
quadruped in some form, mostly tending 
to the extravagantly attenuated, especially 
about the loins — which circumstance, I 
believe, arose from heraldic ingenuity to 
make room on the escutcheon — has been 
borne by English sovereigns as far back 
as authentic records of animal bearings 
extend. 

Of the White Lions yet remaining, and 
deserving notice, are — 

White Lion Court, Birchin Lane, formerly 
White Lyon Alley, wherein stood an ancient 
tavern of the sign. 

White Lion Court, Cornhill, which marks the 
site of a famous White Lion Tavern, de- 
stroyed by fire in 1765, having been pur- 
chased the day before for £3000. 

White Lion Court, Great Tower Street, has 
the same origin, but is now a mean little 
court, with no trace of a leonine attribute 
about it. 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 229 

White's Alley, Coleman Street, is simply a 
memento of the name of the owner. For 
note upon Alleys in this region, see Great 
Bell Alley. 

Whittington Avenue, Leadenhall Street, a 
name of comparatively recent application, 
but right well commemorating one of Lon- 
don's worthies. 

"William Street, Blackfriars, was so named 
in honour of Pitt, whose surname was, 
indeed, the first bestowed upon the Black- 
friars Bridge of 1766, but happily super- 
seded. 

Winchester Street, Broad Street. — Upon the 
dissolution of the Augustinian Monastery 
(see Austin Friars), the house and garden 
were given, by an easy royal munificence, 
to William Paulet, the first Marquis of 
Winchester, who made the place his town 
residence. The construction of the street, 
destined to perpetuate his family title, was 
commenced in 1656. 

Windmill Street, Finsbury, marks the site of 
a windmill in the days when the citizens 
took their rural walks in this direction. 
The mill is said to have occupied the 



230 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

summit of a mound made up by the deposit 
of bones from the churchyard of Old St 
Paul's. I think we may regard this as 
legendary lore, and decline to believe it. 

Windsor Place, Monkwell Street, com- 
memorates the site of the town house of 
the Lords Windsor. The place has changed 
with the times. 

Wine Office Court, Fleet Street, is the sole 
reminiscence of the office whence wine 
licenses were issued, and this, there is 
reason to believe, is more conjecture than 
certainty, although probably some such fact 
is the foundation of the name. 

Wood Street, Cheapside. — The origin of this 
name is somewhat doubtful. 

(1.) It may have been the fact that the 
houses were built of wood, notwithstanding 
the edict promulgated in Eichard the I.'s 
reign that all London houses should be of 
stone, to diminish risk of fire. But one 
can hardly believe that a street of wooden 
structures should be so unique as to give a 
distinguishing name. 

(2.) Thomas Wood, Sheriff in 1491, resided 
here, and, as landowner, may have endowed 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 231 

the street with his name. He was note- 
worthy for his benefactions to the Church of 
St Peter's in Cheap, and as builder of the 
"beautiful front of houses in Cheap over 
against Wood Street end, which is called 
Goldsmith's Kow, garnished with the like- 
ness of woodmen " (Stow). 

(3.) It is tolerably certain there was no 
connection with the wood business. 

Worcester Lane, Thames Street, formerly 
Worcester Place Lane, commemorates the 
site of the Earl of Worcester's Place, or 
town house. 

Wormwood Street recalls to mind the waste 
ground within the city walls on the north, 
and the predominant production; So camo- 
mile was the herb of the adjacent waste. It 
is remarkable that bitter herbs should have 
specially abounded in both places. But for 
remarks upon this natural phenomenon see 
Camomile Street. 

Wrestlers Court, Camomile Street. — Stow 
records that against the wall of the city, by 
Bishopsgate, was a large inn or court, called 
The Wrestlers, of such a sign, granted to the 
parish clerks of London as a chaplain's resi- 



232 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

dence. The present humble thoroughfare 
exists as a memento. 
Wych Street, Strand, is one of those outlying 
streets beyond our allotted boundaries, 
which we cannot willingly pass by. It is 
said to derive its name from the Via de 
Aid Wych, a lane leading from the Strand 
northwards. I am unable to find any 
acceptable explanation of the old wych or 
wic alluded to, but am inclined to think 
that as the O.E. wic means amongst other 
things a monastery or convent, this lane 
formed a portion of the way to and from the 
residence in connection with the Holy Well 
of the locality, whence Holywell Street has 
its name. Via de Aid Wych would thus 
indicate the road of the old convent, now 
abbreviated to the simple Wych. Drury 
Lane was a continuation of the Via. 



APPENDIX I. 



OUK CITY CHUKCH NAMES. 

Several of these have been necessarily explained 
in considering those streets which are by name 
connected with or dependent upon them. It 
appears desirable to supplement these with those 
remaining -unexplained, and so to complete the 
list ; dealing not only with churches still 
existent materially, but with those of the past 
also, living in name or memory only ; for in 
many cases, although the churches themselves 
have disappeared, and their functions have been 
transferred to others, their names, giving title to 
the ancient parishes, remain as an enduring 
memorial. Intimately associated, as most of 



234 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

them are, with the streets in which some did 
stand, and some, like hoary sentinels brooding 
over the past, still do stand, they are not beyond 
the scope of our explorations. 

Were a further justification required for intro- 
ducing them, it might surely be found in the 
fact that, as we travel through our streets, there 
meet us at so many turns the quiet resting- 
places of past illustrious citizens, some with the 
church and some without ; some entire, and some 
a fragmentary relic ; and our thoughts must 
advert to the holy fabric which gives or gave 
name and consecration to the spot. To quote 
from Longfellow's " Evangeline," as he so 
powerfully and pathetically writes of Gabriel 
and his beloved, so may we say and think of our 
old citizens sleeping in our midst : — 

" In the heart of the city they lie, unknown and unnoticed, 
Daily the tides of life go ehbing and flowing beside thern, 
Thousands of throbbing hearts, where theirs are at rest 

and for ever ; 
Thousands of aching brains, where theirs no longer are 

busy; 
Thousands of toiling hands, where theirs have ceased from 

their labours ; 
Thousands of weary feet, where theirs have completed 

their journey ! " 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 235 

As regards the compound form of most of the 
church names, it may be observed that frequently 
the primary, or dedicatory title — that derived 
from apostles, saints, or martyrs — came to be 
multiplied, in consequence of the subdivision 
of parishes ; and the original dedicatory name 
being reserved to each, a secondary title, de- 
rived from whatever circumstance appeared most 
eligible, was appended for distinction's sake. In 
some particular instances, however, where no 
such division took place, it will be seen that a 
secondary title was added in commemoration of 
a benefactors munificence, or of some other 
notable circumstance. 



Our City Church Names. 

Allh allows Barking, Tower Street. — No 
fewer than eight parish churches were thus 
comprehensively dedicated : Allhallows, be- 
ing equivalent to All the Hallowed, or 
Blessed, i.e. All Saints. The great mother 
parish was Allhallows Barking, which owes 



236 LOtfDOtf STREET NAMES. 

its secondary name to Barking Abbey, in 
Essex, built, as Bede tells us, by Bishop 
Earconwald (Erkenwald, see Bishopsgate), 
for bis sister Ethelberga, at the place 
called Bercingum (note c was always 
bard in Saxon). The church was built 
by the convent as a connecting-link 
with the city. It was one of fifteen 
livings, in various localities, of which the 
abbess was patroness, and fortunately 
escaped destruction by the Great Fire of 
1666. 

Allhallows, Great, and Less, Thames Street, 
were both situated on the south side of 
Upper Thames Street, within a short dis- 
tance of one another, whence the neces- 
sity of distinctive names. The latter has 
only recently been demolished, and ground- 
rents rise superior to mere barren senti- 
ment and venerable associations of the 
past. 

Allhallows, London Wall, or On-the-Wall, 
indicating actual contiguity, marked the 
borderland. None of the old city wall 
is visible, but doubtless there is some 
underground. 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 237 

Allhallows Staining. — It is believed, from 
the evidence of a Domesday record, that 
this formed part of an ecclesiastical estate 
in the city, belonging to the manor of 
Staines. {But see also St Mary Stain- 
ing.) 

Allhallows, Bread Street, Allhallows, Honey 
Lane, and Allhallows, Lombard Street. 
— These are simply local secondaries. 

St Alban, Wood Street, is dedicated to the 
British proto-martyr, put to death in the 
year 304 for refusing to renounce Chris- 
tianity. 

St Alphage, London Wall. — Alphage, or 
Elphege, was Archbishop of Canterbury 
in the reign of Ethelred II. His courage 
during the siege of Canterbury by the 
Danes, betrayal, sufferings, and cruel death, 
form one of the most pathetic episodes in 
Saxon history. 

St Andrew Hubbard. — Dedicated to St An- 
drew the Apostle, who suffered martyrdom 
about the year 70. In 740 he was chosen 
as the patron saint of Scotland ; and the St 
Andrew's Cross saltire represents that on 



238 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

which he is believed to have suffered. The 
original denomination of St Andrew Hub- 
bard was St Andrew's-juxta-Eastcheap, and 
it is conjectured — for there is no positive 
record — that Hubbard was a benefactor, 
whose name was therefore a more eligible 
secondary. 
St Andrew Undershaft. — Here the secondary 
name is a memento of the maypole, erst 
set up in Leadenhall Street, of such height 
as to overtop the church. In the rear of 
the church was Shaft Alley, now forming 
the side avenue of a gorgeous tavern, then 
consisting of a row of cottages, along the 
front of which the maypole was suspended 
when not in use. It was last erected in 
1517. In the heat of the Eeformation it 
was denounced by the curate of the neigh- 
bouring St Katharine Cree as an idol, 
because it had given a name to the parish 
church, and good old Stow relates how, 
on that very same afternoon, the people of 
Shaft Alley, " after they had dined to make 
themselves strong, gathered more help, and 
with great labour raising the shaft from the 
hooks whereon it had rested two and thirty 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 239 

years, they sawed it in pieces, every man 
taking for his share so much as had lain 
over his door and stall the length of 
his house." This is one of the few 
churches which escaped destruction by the 
Great Fire. 

St Andrew-by-the- Wardrobe. (See Wardrobe 
Place.) 

St Anne, Blackfriars. — Now no more. St Anne 
was the mother of the Virgin Mary. For 
such mementoes as exist, see Church Entry, 
Carter Lane. 

St Anne and St Agnes, Gresham Street. — An 
old tradition states that Anne and Agnes 
were two sisters who built and endowed the 
church, but nothing is known of them with 
certainty. 

St Antholin's. (See Sise Lane.) The church is 
now united with St Mary Aldermary. St 
Antholin, familiarly known as Antlin and 
Anthony, was an Egyptian hermit, founder 
of an Order of Eremites bearing his name. 
He was chosen as the patron saint of the 
Grocers. 

St Augustine, or Austin, Old Change, is dedi- 



240 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

cated to the famous apostle sent to Britain 
by Pope Gregory in 597. 

St Bartholomew Exchange. — Dedicated to Bar- 
tholomew the Apostle. The memory of the 
church is perpetuated by Bartholomew Lane. 
It was demolished in 1841, and its site is 
occupied by the Sun Fire Office. The 
church in Moor Lane, built in 1850, was 
designed as an imitation. 

St Bartholomew the Great, and St Bar- 
tholomew the Less. — Great and Less are 
distinctive names of the adjacent churches, 
of which the latter was built as a chapel to 
the Hospital. 

St Bartholomew, Moor Lane. — Moor Lane is, 
of course, a local secondary. (See St Bar- 
tholomew Exchange, which was its arche- 
type.) 

St Benet Fink. — To St Benet, an abbreviated 
form of Benedict, an Italian saint, founder 
of the Benedictine Order of monks, four 
churches were dedicated, of which only one 
remains. Fink was a benefactor. (See Finch 
Lane.) The church was removed upon the 
rebuilding of the Eoyal Exchange. 

St Benet, Gracechurch Street, and St Benet, 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 241 

St Paul's Wharf, are local secondaries. 
St Benet Paul's Wharf is the one church 
not yet demolished. 

St Benet Sherehog. — Stow, apparently dis- 
creetly doubtful, says that this " seemeth to 
be a relic of one Benedict Shorne, citizen 
and fishmonger in the time of Edward 
II." Shorne passed through the metamor- 
phoses of Shrog, Shorehog, and Sherehog. 
Another antiquary states that Willelmus 
Serehog, who dwelt in the parish in the 
early part of the twelfth century, was a 
benefactor, and this appears to be the more 
probable explanation of the name. 

St Botolph Aldgate, St Botolph Billings- 
gate, St Botolph Without Aldersgate, 
St Botolph Without Bishopsgate. — To 
the Saxon monk Botolph, the special or 
quasi patron saint of East Anglia, and 
therefore of the roads connecting the city 
therewith, four churches were dedicated, 
of which all except Billingsgate, now united 
with St George, Botolph Lane, remain. 
The secondary names are local. Aldersgate 
and Bishopsgate being just beyond the 
boundary of the ancient city liberties have 
Q 



242 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the distinctive title of Without. Botolph 
founded a monastery in Lincolnshire, 
whence the name Botolph's-town, contracted 
into Bostown, Boston. 

St Bridget, or St Bride, Fleet Street. (See 
Bride Street.) 

St Christopher-le-Stocks, now united with 
St Margaret Lothbury, occupied the site 
of the southern portion of the Bank of 
England, to enlarge which, in 1781, it was 
removed. St Christopher was the subject 
of the legend of the carrying of Christ over 
a river, as his name, superseding that of 
Eeprobus, borne before conversion, com- 
memorates. The stocks had reference to 
the adjacent Stock Market, situated where 
the Mansion House now stands. 

St Clement, Eastcheap. (See Church Court, 
Clement's Lane.) 

St Dionis, Backchurch. — Now no more. (See 
Dionis Yard, Fenchurch Street.) 

St Dunstan-in-the-East is dedicated to the 
imperious and implacable West Saxon, a 
worker in metals as well as a monk, of 
whom is related the legend of his seizing 
" the arch enemy of mankind " by the nose 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 243 

with his tongs, as an efficacious means of 
putting an end to his unwelcome attentions, 
wherein lies a profound allegory, which 
each may interpret for himself. "In-the- 
East " was added to distinguish the church 
from that of the same dedication westward, 
in the Strand. 

St Edmund King and Martyr, with which is 
united St Nicholas Aeon. Edmund was 
king of the East Angles, a steadfast 
Christian, murdered by the Pagan Danes 
in 870, whence the Abbey of Bury St 
Edmunds. As regards St Nicholas Aeon, 
see Nicholas Lane. 

St Ethelburga, Bishopsgate. — Ethelburga was 
the wife of Sebert, a Christian Saxon king. 
The church is noteworthy as being one of 
those which escaped the Great Fire. 

St Gabriel, Fenchurch Street, formerly 
stood opposite Cullum Street, in the middle 
of Fenchurch Street. Our ancestors appear 
to have had a difficulty in satisfactorily 
settling the name, for it was known as St 
Mary Fenchurch until 1517 ; then it 
received its archangelic title, and shortly 
after it was known as All Saints. Probably 



244 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

the original dedication comprised all three. 
It was also spoken of as the Fore Church, 
to distinguish it from St Dionis, commonly 
called the Back Church. 

St George, Botolph Lane. — It is remarkable 
that this is the only city church dedicated 
to St George of Cappadocia, the Confessor, 
Martyr, and Tutelar Saint of England. An 
old chronicler observes, with what now 
seems sweet simplicity — perhaps we might 
say sancta simplicitas — that " the story of 
his killing the dragon is equally absurd 
with the fictitious invention of there being 
such a heterogeneous creature." That it 
might be an allegory did not suggest itself 
to his archaeological mind. 

St Giles Without Cripplegate. — St Giles is 
an Anglicised equivalent of Egidius, an 
Athenian Christian. As regards Cripple- 
gate, see thereunder. This church is 
additionally interesting as being one 
of the few which survived the Great 
Fire. 

St Helen's, Bishopsgate, is dedicated to Helena, 
the mother of Constantine the Great. {See 
St Helen's Place.) The church is another 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 245 

of the few spared by the Great Fire of 1 666, 
and is correctly regarded as the West- 
minster Abbey of the city. 

St James, Aldgate, now united with St 
Katharine Cree, was dedicated, like our 
Bible, "to the Most High and Mighty 
Prince," James I., during whose reign it 
was built. The only instance of the kind, 
and one of very questionable taste. 

St James, Garlickhithe, is dedicated to James 
the Apostle, and derives its secondary name 
from its situation on Garlick Hill (ivhich 
see). The Apostle stands in all his golden 
glory on the summit of the projecting 
clock. 

St Katharine Coleman, Fenchurch Street. — 
St Katharine was an Egyptian virgin. As 
regards Coleman, see Church Eow, Fen- 
church Street. 

St Katharine Cree, Leadenhall Street. (See 
Cree Church Lane.) 

St Lawrence Pountney. — St Lawrence was a 
Spanish saint, of Arragon, who, after en- 
during a variety of persecutions, was finally 
broiled alive upon a gridiron over a slow 
fire in the year 258. When called upon to 



246 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

deliver up the treasures of his church, he 
produced the sick and the poor, which 
naturally failed to satisfy the cupidity of 
his persecutors. For Pountney, see Laur- 
ence Pountney Lane. 

St Lawrence Jewry. — Jewry was a local 
secondary to distinguish the church from 
the St Lawrence noticed above. 

St Leonard Eastcheap, and St Leonard, 
Foster Lane, both have disappeared. 
St Leonard was a French saint, " a mighty 
miracle-monger. " 

St Magnus-the-Martyr. — St Magnus was a 
Norwegian, a Christian martyr who suffered 
under the Emperor Aurelian. 

St Margaret Lothbury. — St Margaret was a 
virgin saint of Antioch, who suffered 
martyrdom in the reign of the Emperor 
Decius for her attachment to Christianity. 

St Margaret Pattens. — The origin of this 
secondary name is doubtful. It may be 
due to the church's situation in the region 
of the patten-makers, "now clean worn 
out," even in Stow's time ; or, as another 
antiquary conjectures, to the patines, or 
stars of bright gold, which decorated the 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 247 

roof. The patines were things of the past, 
if they ever existed. 

St Margaret Moses owed its secondary to one 
Moses, a rebuilder. It is now united to 
St Mildred's, Bread Street. 

St Margaret, New Fish Street, occupied the 
site of the Monument. It is now united to 
St Magnus. 

St Martin, Ludgate. — St Martin's claims to 
saintly honours appear to have been of a 
peculiar kind, for it is recorded that he 
was "a Hungarian, who, for his implacable 
hatred and much persecution of the Arians, 
was deemed worthy of sainthood." He also 
occupies the proud position of patron saint 
of the saddlers. 

St Martin Orgar. — As regards Orgar, see St 
Martin's Lane, Cannon Street. 

St Martin Outwich. — Outwich is a modified 
form of Otteswich, or Otewich. William 
and John de Otewich having been founders 
of the church, were thus worthily associated 
with it. 

St Martin Pomeroy. — Pomeroy, or, as Stow 
writes, apparently more correctly, Pomary, 
is " supposed to be of apples growing where 



248 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

now houses are lately builded." I think we 
may assume some connection with an old 
orchard, which the church has now followed 
to the limbo of the past. 

St Martin Vintry. — Vintry is due to the situa- 
tion of the church in that ward. A portion 
of the churchyard yet remains, at the junc- 
tion of Queen Street and Thames Street. 

St Mary Abchurch. — To the Virgin no fewer 
than twelve of our city churches were 
dedicated, and two to her namesake the 
Magdalen ; and of these only five remain. 
For Abchurch, see Abchurch Lane. 

St Mary, Aldermary. — Aldermary was, as its 
name imports, the mother church of the 
group. Its title of Elder Mary was be- 
stowed to distinguish it from the adjacent 
St Mary-le-Bow. In the opinion of some, 
the tower is an imitation of the Magdalen 
at Oxford. 

St Mary-at-Hill, like St Mary Abchurch, 
owes its secondary name " to its situation 
upon a pleasant eminence," as an old anti- 
quary boldly avers. 

St Mary Bothaw commemorates the old dock 
at Dowgate, the depth of which was regu- 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 249 

lated by a lock or boat-hatch, known as the 
bot-haw. Another explanation is that a 
boat-haw or yard was adjacent, near the 
Dowgate, where boats were made or re- 
paired. In either case the river connection 
is established. 

St Mary, Colechurch. — The secondary name 
is attributed to one Cole, its founder, of 
whom we should like to know more, as 
the knowledge might throw a light upon 
the obscure St Nicholas Cole Abbey. 

St Mary-le-Bow. — The present church was 
built by Wren, on the arched crypt of its 
predecessor, a victim of the Great Fire. 
The Court of Arches was originally held 
here, and owed its name to the arches of 
the church, which were of stone, Norman, 
and the first tried as a substructure, hence 
the name of St Mary-de-Arcubus, or le-Bow. 

St Mary Magdalen. — One in Knightrider 
Street, and one in Milk Street, have both 
disappeared. 

St Mary Mounthaw was originally the chapel 
of the family of Montalt or Mounthaut, in 
the county of Norfolk. 

St Mary Somerset. — Somerset is a modified 



250 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

form of Somer's or Summer's Hithe, an 
adjacent creek, or landing-place, analogous 
to Queen's Hithe. 

St Mary Staining. (See Staining Lane, Wood 
Street.) 

St Mary-the- Virgin, in Aldermanbury, is still 
existent, and needs no explanation. 

St Mary Woolnoth, and Woolchurch-Haw. — 
St Mary Woolchurch-haw, which stood on 
the east side of the Stock Market (the site 
of which is now occupied by the Mansion 
House), derived its secondary name from 
the circumstance of a balance for the weigh- 
ing of wool being erected in the yard or 
haw thereof; and Woolnoth, which was 
adjacent, may be a corruption of Wool- 
neah or nigh. Woollenhithe has been 
suggested, the hithe or wharf probably 
being on the Wall Brook. In any case, 
the connection of the locality with the 
wool trade, formerly one of our most im- 
portant staples, is established. 

St Michael Bassishaw. — To the archangel 
Michael seven city churches have been 
dedicated, of which three remain. Bassi- 
shaw is a slight modification of Basingshaw, 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 251 

the haw or hall of the Basing family, which 
gave name to Basinghall Street and Ward 
(See Basinghall Street.) 

St Michael, Cornhill, St Michael, Crooked 
Lane, St Michael, Wood Street. — The 
secondaries are of course locative. 

St Michael, Paternoster Eoyal. — Paternoster 
(now virtually disused) was the former name 
of College Street ; and Eoyal has reference 
to the Tower Eoyal, from which it is stated 
College Hill once bore the name of Eoyal 
Street. The old church, on the same site 
as the present, stood at the junction of the 
two thoroughfares. 

St Michael Queenhithe is explained under 
Queenhithe. 

St Michael-le-Querne is dealt with in Corn- 
hill. 

St Mildred, Bread Street. — Mildred was the 
daughter of Merwaldus, a West Mercian 
prince, and niece of Penda, King of Mercia, 
abbess of a nunnery in the Isle of Thanet. 
Died 676. 

St Mildred-the- Virgin, Poultry. — The church 
is now united with St Margaret Lothbury. 

St Nicholas Acon. (See Nicholas Lane.) 



252 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

St Nicholas Cole Abbey. — Golden Abbey, as 
conveying an idea of magnificence, and Cold 
Abbey, or Cold-by, from its cold or bleak 
situation, have been suggested, but neither 
commends itself. It is more probably con- 
nected with Cole, the founder of St Mary 
Colechurch, who was probably a benefactor, 
or, as Mr Loftie surmises, Colby, an unre- 
corded founder or restorer. 

St Nicholas Olave formerly stood on the west 
side of Bread Street Hill. It was destroyed 
in the Great Fire, and was not rebuilt, the 
parish being united with St Nicholas Cole 
Abbey. Olave is supposed to be the Nor- 
wegian king, alluded to under St Olave's, 
Hart Street. 

St Olave, Hart Street, St Olave, Old 
Jewry, St Olave, Silver Street. — Olave, 
or Olaf, was a Norwegian, who fought on 
behalf of Ethelred II. against the Danes. 
He was afterwards King of Norway, and 
received canonisation on account of his 
propagandist zeal. His father has been 
honoured by Longfellow in his " Tales of a 
"Wayside Inn." Whether the three churches 
were dedicated to him alone, or to him and 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 253 

another of the same name, is doubtful. 
There is also St Olave's in Tooley Street — 
Tooley itself being formed from St Olaf. 
The wayfarer may note the gruesome skulls 
carved over the Seething Lane gateway of 
St Olave's, Hart Street, as a cheerful and 
appropriate emblem of the graveyard. This 
is known as the " Gate of the Dead," a 
special title said to have been bestowed 
because the churchyard was used as one of 
the places of sepulture for the victims of the 
Great Plague in 1665, which is doubtful, 
except as regards parishioners. The church 
escaped destruction by the Great Fire, and 
is well worthy of careful inspection, within 
and without. 

All the secondaries are locative. For 
further note on the Old Jewry Church, see 
Church Court of that locality. 
St Pancras, Soper Lane. — The church no 
longer exists, but a small portion of the 
churchyard may yet be seen on the north 
side of Pancras Lane, Queen Street. Pan- 
cras was a young Phrygian nobleman, an 
early Christian, who suffered martyrdom 
at Eome, under the Emperor Diocletian. 



254 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Soper Lane is an interesting name relic of 
the old street renamed Queen Street after 
the Fire. 

St Peter, Cornhill. — Apostolic and locative. 
The legend of King Lucius as its founder, 
with respect to which Thackeray wrote, and 
which a few years ago was made the occasion 
of a religious service, appears to have no 
foundation in fact, only in sentiment, which, 
however, is sometimes more pleasing and 
satisfactory than bare fact in secular as well 
as in ecclesiastical affairs ; and certainly 
does no harm in the present instance. 

St Peter Paul's Wharf. (See Peter's Hill, 
Upper Thames Street.) 

St Peter-le-Poor. — Stow, with whom other 
antiquaries agree, is of opinion that the 
specific name was derived from the poverty 
of the parish. A corruption from Parvus^ 
as the church is styled in some ancient 
documents, has also been suggested. 

St Peter, Westcheap, formerly stood at the 
south-west corner of Wood Street, and 
was not rebuilt after the Fire. The parish 
is now united with St Vedast, Foster 
Lane. 



OUR CITY CHURCH NAMES. 255 

St Sepulchre's, or, more familiarly, St Pulchre's, 
anciently St Sepulchre's-in-the-Bailey, was 
built during the enthusiasm of the Crusades, 
and was dedicated under the name of the 
Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 

St Stephen, Coleman Street, St Stephen, 
Walbrook, are dedicated to the proto- 
martyr. The gateway of the former is 
worthy of observation. It is adorned with 
a skull, considerably more than life size, if 
the term is applicable, and beneath is an 
alto-rilievo representing " The Day of Judg- 
ment," wherein the clouds stand out well — 
too well — as though the sculptor designed 
to form an unmistakable line of demarca- 
tion between the heavens above and the 
earth beneath ; but some of the figures are 
excellently carved. 

St Swithin London Stone. (See St Swithin's 
Lane.) The stone, which is the old Roman 
milliarium, or milestone, from which it 
is believed distances from London were 
measured, is now safely ensconced in the 
southern wall, and speaks eloquently, 
although reduced by the hand of time to 
" a mere rounded boulder," of the very 



256 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

" auld lang syne." 'Tis worthy of affec- 
tionate veneration. 

St Thomas Apostle. (See Great St Thomas 
Apostle in street names.) 

St Vedast, alias Foster. (See Foster Lane.) 



A full history of our City Churches, embody- 
ing all that is interesting concerning them, has 
recently been written by Mr A. E. Daniell, and 
should form the guide of any one who under 
takes an exploration in this direction. 



APPENDIX II. 



BELIGIOUS HOUSES. 

The foregoing pages show that the names of 
streets dependent upon the pre-Keformation 
religious foundations of London are so numerous 
that it may be convenient to show these as a 
whole. They were as follows : — 
Friaries. — The Dominicans, or Black Friars. 

Franciscans, or Grey Friars. 

Carmelites, or White Friars. 

Augustines, or Friars Eremites. 

Crouched, or Crutched Friars. 

Carthusians. [See Charter- 
house.) 

Cistercian, in East Smithfield. 



258 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Priories.— St John of Jerusalem, at Clerkenwell. 
Holy Trinity, at Duke's Place, Aid- 
gate. 
St Bartholomew the Great, West 

Smithfield. 
St Mary Overies, South wark. 1 
St Saviour's, Bermondsey. 1 
Nunneries. — Benedictines or Black Nuns, 
Clerkenwell. 
St Helen's, Bishopsgate. 
St Clare, Minories. 
Holywell, Holywell Lane, and 
Norton Folgate. 
To which may be added The Knights Templars 
and a few minor Colleges, Hospitals, and Frater- 
nities, so that altogether, it is stated, no less 
than two-thirds of the entire area of London 
were occupied or possessed by convents and 
religious houses. 

1 Important London Priories, although not of the city. 



A PPENDIX III 



NAMES OF THE PAST. 

Looking through a list of the names of streets of 
a hundred and fifty or sixty years ago, we notice 
very many no longer existent, having been effaced 
by the progress and improvements of our city. 
Some of these were so quaint, and must have 
required so much hardihood and recklessness on 
the part of the municipal, parochial, or other 
authorities responsible for their application, that 
they deserve to be rescued from oblivion, if only 
as a memento of what can be and has been done 
in the art of street nomenclature. Many were 
undoubtedly from shop or tavern signs ; but 
why the sign should be transferred to brand the 
thoroughfare, the spirit of mischief alone knows. 
That their disappearance is an advantage can- 
not be gainsaid, for in many cases it involved 
the sweeping away of abodes of squalor, of 



260 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

narrow dirty passages, never purified b) r sun- 
shine, moral or physical, and incapable of being 
so purified so long as they and the city might 
exist. The sanitary and social condition of some 
few of our smaller thoroughfares needs attention 
now, and, as we must be glad to know, the 
needed attention is being actively bestowed ; but 
the normal and unheeded state of a considerable 
area of our city was once what we cannot now 
conceive. There was nothing for it, as the 
growing wisdom of our civic administrators 
speedily recognised, but to clear away the nests 
where pestilence, bodily, mental, and spiritual, 
was born, bred, and fostered, and thence let 
loose full fledged. But this by the way. Strictly 
speaking, street nomenclature is not a branch of 
social economics, or of sanitary or moral science. 
We find, then, a Bag and Bottle Alley in Old 
Street ; a Bandy Leg Alley abutting on the 
Fleet — probably so named from its tortuosity — 
a congener of Crooked Lane in Cannon Street ; a 
Barber's Alley, which may have been derived 
from a surname, but Barber's Pole Alley plainly 
indicates professional influence. There was 
a Beggars' Alms Alley, which has an ob- 
scure and inexplicable reference to charitable 



NAMES OF THE PAST. 261 

donations. Black Lyon Alley and two Courts 
of like designation are noteworthy for their 
reference to the king of beasts in unaccus- 
tomed sable hue. Blind Beggars' Alley, Cow 
Cross, was probably the recognised quarter of 
sightless mendicants. Blue Maid Alley suggests 
a woad-coloured virgin of our British ancestors, 
but it was probably an improper abbreviation of 
a blue-eyed maid. In St Thomas Apostle was 
Blunderbuss Alley, and in Abchurch Lane a 
Boot Alley. In Bishopsgate Street was Bottle 
Alley, and no fewer than three Broomstick 
Alleys existed. In East Smithfield was a Brown 
Beer Alley, probably, but by no means certainly, 
a misnomer for Brown Bear (see Beer Lane in 
the body of this work). Then there were a 
Buttermilk Alley, a Cabbage Alley, a Chitterling 
Alley, suggestive of edible luxuries ; two Dirty 
Alleys and a Dirty Hill, as well as six Dirty 
Lanes, no doubt appropriately named, with a 
modest, or, it may be, a shameless, reference to 
their special characteristics. That humble but 
highly useful and meritorious article of culinary 
service, the Frying-pan, was in great request, no 
fewer than thirteen alleys bearing its name. 
There were a Gingerbread Alley and two 



262 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

Gingerbread Courts, where probably the dainty 
comestible had attained notoriety ; a Good 
Child's Alley, possibly a surname divided into 
its constituent elements ; a Grey Pea Alley, 
and a Grey Peas Alley ; a Great Sword- 
bearer's Alley, which, doubtless, had a rever- 
ential allusion to the civic functionary ; a 
Gullyhole Alley; two Halfpenny Alleys, three 
Farthing Alleys, and a Farthing Street. Labour- 
in- Vain Alley, St Margaret's Hill, and Labour- 
in- Vain Court, Old Fish Street Hill, indicate 
unsuccessful effort, probably to derive an income 
from treacherous bricks and mortar and evanes- 
cent tenants. Lyon and Lamb Alley probably had 
a confused reference to Isaiah's picture of peace 
and happiness. The domestic Mouse and the pun- 
gent Mustard had each their representatives, and 
Noah's Ark Alley was found in Katcliff, a 
nominal ancestor, one might conjecture, of the 
renowned Jamrach. There was an Old Shore 
Alley in Hoxton, and a One Gun Alley in 
Wapping ; several Paved Alleys and Courts, a 
Half-paved Court (betokening a conscientious 
scrupulosity on the part of the nomenclator), 
and Paved Entry, London Wall, so named, no 
doubt, from a becoming pride in their superior 



LONDON STREET NAMES. 263 

condition. Then we had a Peas Porridge Alley 
and a Peascod Court ; a Penny Barber's Alley, 
indicating that honest, if ruinous, competition 
existed in those days. In Gracechurch Street 
was Pewter Platter Alley, and Porridge Pot 
Alley in Aldersgate Street. Quart Pots, Shovels, 
Smocks, and Spectacles were also represented ; 
nor were the Washermaids and the Wildgoose 
forgotten. 

In Grub Street, now Milton Street, was an 
appropriate Butterfly Court, also a Honeysuckle 
Court, both suggesting a sweetness and a fresh- 
ness there never known. The same street 
boasted of a Flying Horse Court, which may 
fancifully, but no doubt incorrectly, be held as 
having reference to the Pegasus of that classic 
region. On St Dunstan's Hill was a Coffin 
Court, not inappropriate for the adjacent church- 
yard. Crab Courts and Cradle Courts numbered 
three and four respectively ; and we find a Cross 
Harper's Court, which, probably, did not refer to 
" an enraged musician." In Kosemary Lane was 
Crowfoot's Court, and in Thames Street a Double 
Hand Court ; a Eunuch Court near Goodmans 
Yard ; and Barbican, as well as the Inner 
Temple, boasted a Fig Tree Court. There were 



264 LONDON STREET NAMES. 

a Five Inkhorn Court and a Five Inkhorn Alley, 
also a Five Pipe Alley, whence we may infer 
that five was regarded as a mystic number in 
this relation. Hairbrained Court in Thames 
Street was probably a misspelling of Hare- 
brained, having a subtle reference to the builder, 
the owner, or the inhabitants thereof. Then we 
find a Mutton Court and a Mutton Lane — the 
one in Wood Street, the other in Clerkenwell — 
having no allusion, apparently, to that article of 
diet ; a Powdered Beef Court, which, no doubt, 
bore the name of a then toothsome dainty ; a 
Purse Court, appropriately in Old 'Change ; a 
Strawberry Court in Tower Royal ; a Sweet 
Apple Court in Bishopsgate Street ; and a 
Tobacco Roll Court in Gracechurch Street; 
whilst a Pig Court kept in countenance two 
Hog Lanes. In Cheapside was a Blowbladder 
Street ; in Bucklersbury a Knitneedle Street ; 
and in Aldersgate a Pickax Street. We find 
also Turn wheel Lane bordering upon the Wall 
Brook in its course towards the Dow Gate, 
undoubtedly having connection with a once 
existing water mill. 

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